When to Plant Fountain Grass in Downers Grove, IL

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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Downers Grove it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant fountain grass.


Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

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

Since fountain grass are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant fountain grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant fountain grass
Probably not a good time to plant fountain grass

The earliest that you can plant fountain grass 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 fountain grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fountain grass may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your fountain grass indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Downers Grove it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your fountain grass 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.