One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Champaign you can estimate when to plant santolina by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

Frost tolerance for santolina:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant santolina earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant santolina 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 santolina and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your santolina may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your santolina indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Champaign it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your santolina 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.