When to Plant Caladium in Grayslake, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant caladium is to examine the USDA zone info for Grayslake.


Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant caladium until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Grayslake 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 caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your caladium may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your caladium indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Grayslake is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Grayslake last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your caladium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grayslake

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 Grayslake

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