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.

In Downers Grove you can figure out when it's the best time to plant heuchera by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Heuchera

Frost tolerance for heuchera:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant heuchera a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant heuchera and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your heuchera may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your heuchera indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Downers Grove the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Downers Grove is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Downers Grove there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your heuchera in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.