One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can determine when you can plant pampas grass in Downers Grove by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant pampas grass until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in Downers Grove 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pampas grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Downers Grove the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Downers Grove is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Downers Grove last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your pampas grass if you have 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.