When to Plant Larkspur in Elmwood Park, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 larkspur in Elmwood Park should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Larkspur

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

Larkspur tend to make it in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Elmwood Park 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your larkspur may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your larkspur 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.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elmwood Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your larkspur 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.