When to Plant Dianthus in Evanston, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Evanston it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant dianthus.


Planting Calendar for Dianthus

Frost tolerance for dianthus: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Dianthus tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant dianthus in Evanston 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 dianthus and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dianthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your dianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Evanston. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Evanston is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Evanston there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your dianthus 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.