When to Plant Cleome in Decatur, IL

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

The best time to plant cleome in Decatur can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant cleome until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Decatur 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Decatur. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Decatur is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Decatur you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cleome if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

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 Decatur

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