Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Elmhurst can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Begonias do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Elmhurst 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your begonias indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Elmhurst is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elmhurst you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your begonias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmhurst

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 Elmhurst

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elmhurst.