When to Plant Gerbera in Evanston, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Evanston it's possible to determine when it's possible to plant gerbera.


Planting Calendar for Gerbera

Frost tolerance for gerbera: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gerbera do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant gerbera in Evanston is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gerbera and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gerbera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gerbera indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Evanston. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Evanston and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Evanston it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your gerbera if you have one of those late frosts.

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.