One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant calla lily is to consult the USDA zone info for Evanston.

Planting Calendar for Calla Lily

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

Since calla lily require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calla lily 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 calla lily and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calla lily may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your calla lily indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Evanston is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Evanston you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your calla lily if you have a 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.