One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Cicero you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant balloon flower.

Planting Calendar for Balloon Flower

Frost tolerance for balloon flower:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant balloon flower in Cicero is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant balloon flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your balloon flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your balloon flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cicero the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cicero and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cicero it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your balloon flower in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cicero

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 Cicero

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