When to Plant Begonias in Evanston, 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 chance to plant begonias in Evanston should be estimated 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 has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant begonias until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Evanston 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. Any later than that and your begonias may not have a chance to really do well. 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 Evanston. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Evanston and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Evanston last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your begonias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

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 Evanston

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