One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's the best time to plant fanflower is to use the USDA zone info for Dekalb.

Planting Calendar for Fanflower

Frost tolerance for fanflower:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since fanflower do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant fanflower in Dekalb 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 fanflower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fanflower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your fanflower indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dekalb and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Dekalb there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your fanflower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dekalb

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 Dekalb

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