When to Plant Lantana in Bloomington, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 USDA zone info for Bloomington should be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant lantana.


Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Lantana require warm weather which tells us that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant lantana in Bloomington is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lantana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lantana may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lantana 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 Bloomington. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bloomington and it is different every year. Half of the time in Bloomington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lantana 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.