One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Crystal Lake you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant verbena by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

Verbena do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Crystal Lake 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 verbena and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your verbena may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your verbena indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Crystal Lake. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Crystal Lake is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Crystal Lake there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your verbena in the event of a late frost.

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.