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

One way of determining when it's the best time to plant flax is to refer to the USDA zone info for Champaign.

Planting Calendar for Flax

Frost tolerance for flax:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since flax are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant flax in Champaign is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flax and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your flax indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Champaign the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Champaign is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Champaign there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your flax 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.