One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Elmwood Park you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant chrysanthemums by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemums:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since chrysanthemums are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Elmwood Park is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elmwood Park. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Elmwood Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your chrysanthemums in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elmwood Park

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 Elmwood Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elmwood Park.