One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant alstromeria in Chicago by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alstromeria

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

Alstromeria tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant alstromeria in Chicago 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 alstromeria and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alstromeria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your alstromeria indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Chicago. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alstromeria in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chicago

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