When to Plant Lavender in Aurora, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Aurora you can figure out when it's possible to plant lavender by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Lavender

Frost tolerance for lavender: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lavender a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lavender
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lavender
Probably not a good time to plant lavender

The earliest that you can plant lavender in Aurora is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lavender and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lavender may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lavender indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Aurora. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Aurora is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Aurora last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your lavender in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Aurora

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 Aurora

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