When to Plant Tithonia in Crete, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's possible to plant tithonia is to look at the USDA zone info for Crete.


Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since tithonia are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tithonia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tithonia
Probably not a good time to plant tithonia

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Crete 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 tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your tithonia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Crete is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Crete it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tithonia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Crete

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 Crete

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