One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant ageratum in Des Plaines by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Ageratum

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

Ageratum do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant ageratum in Des Plaines 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 ageratum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ageratum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your ageratum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Des Plaines and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Des Plaines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your ageratum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Des Plaines

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 Des Plaines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Plaines.