The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant phlox is to check out the USDA zone info for Elmhurst.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elmhurst. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Elmhurst is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Elmhurst you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your phlox if you have a 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.