One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant caladium in Bourbonnais should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant caladium until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Bourbonnais. 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 is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bourbonnais and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bourbonnais last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your caladium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bourbonnais

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 Bourbonnais

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