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 first opportunity to plant santolina in Downers Grove should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Santolina

Frost tolerance for santolina:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Santolina do ok in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant santolina 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 santolina and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your santolina may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your santolina indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Downers Grove is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Downers Grove you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your santolina if you have a 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.