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 USDA zone info for Champaign should be looked at to figure out when it's possible to plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cuphea until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Champaign 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cuphea indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Champaign is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Champaign you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cuphea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Champaign

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 Champaign

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