One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant bellis is to check out the USDA zone info for Crystal Lake.

Planting Calendar for Bellis

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

Bellis are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bellis in Crystal Lake 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 bellis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your bellis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bellis 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 has passed is on April 15 in Crystal Lake. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Crystal Lake and it is different every year. Half of the time in Crystal Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bellis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Crystal Lake

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 Crystal Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Crystal Lake.