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When to Plant Bleeding Hearts in Downers Grove, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant bleeding hearts by checking out the USDA zone info for Downers Grove.


Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bleeding Hearts are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bleeding hearts
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bleeding hearts
Probably not a good time to plant bleeding hearts

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Downers Grove is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your bleeding hearts indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Downers Grove. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Downers Grove is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Downers Grove you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bleeding hearts in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Downers Grove

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 Downers Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Downers Grove.