When to Plant Calliopsis in Geneva, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 calliopsis in Geneva can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant calliopsis until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Geneva 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your calliopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Geneva. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Geneva you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Geneva.