The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Algonquin you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Ornamental Grasses are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses in Algonquin is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Algonquin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Algonquin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Algonquin there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your ornamental grasses if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Algonquin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Algonquin

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Algonquin.