When to Plant Fountain Grass in Fox Lake, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 first chance to plant fountain grass in Fox Lake can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Fountain Grass

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

Since fountain grass are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Fox Lake. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fox Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fox Lake you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your fountain grass in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fox Lake

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 Fox Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fox Lake.