Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Des Plaines can be reviewed to determine when you can plant millet.

Planting Calendar for Millet

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

Since millet do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant millet 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 millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your millet indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Des Plaines. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Plaines is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Des Plaines last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your millet in the event of a late frost.

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.