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.

The first opportunity to plant red hot pokers in Crystal Lake should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Red Hot Pokers do ok in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Crystal Lake. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember 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 it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your red hot pokers in the event of 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.