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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant cosmos by looking at the USDA zone info for Blue Island.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

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

Cosmos can survive in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Blue Island. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Blue Island is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Blue Island last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cosmos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Blue Island

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Blue Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Blue Island.