When to Plant Iberis in Bloomington, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant iberis in Bloomington should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Iberis

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

Iberis tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant iberis in Bloomington 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 iberis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iberis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your iberis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Bloomington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bloomington is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bloomington there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your iberis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

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 Bloomington

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