One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant oxalis.

Planting Calendar for Oxalis

Frost tolerance for oxalis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Oxalis are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant oxalis 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 oxalis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your oxalis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your oxalis indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Des Plaines is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Des Plaines it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your oxalis in the event of 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.