When to Plant Coleus in Elmwood Park, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Elmwood Park should be read to estimate when to plant coleus.


Planting Calendar for Coleus

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant coleus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant coleus
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant coleus
Probably not a good time to plant coleus

The earliest that you can plant coleus in Elmwood Park 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 coleus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your coleus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your coleus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elmwood Park. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elmwood Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your coleus if you have a late frost.

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.