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

The USDA zone info for Carterville should be looked at to estimate when it's a good idea to plant firebush.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

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

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Carterville 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your firebush indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Carterville. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Carterville is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Carterville last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your firebush in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Carterville

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