When to Plant Amaranthus in Forest Park, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Forest Park you can estimate when it's possible to plant amaranthus by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

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

Since amaranthus are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in Forest Park 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 amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your amaranthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Forest Park. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Forest Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your amaranthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest Park.