When to Plant Phlox in Forest Park, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Forest Park should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Since phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Forest Park 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your phlox indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Forest Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Forest Park is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Forest Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

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.