One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant brachycome in Chicago should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Brachycome

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

You should not plant brachycome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant brachycome in Chicago 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 brachycome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your brachycome may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your brachycome indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chicago. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Chicago is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your brachycome 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.