When to Plant Red Hot Pokers in Decatur, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The first chance to plant red hot pokers in Decatur can be estimated 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 can survive in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant red hot pokers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant red hot pokers
Probably not a good time to plant red hot pokers

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Decatur 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. If you wait any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Decatur may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your red hot pokers in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.