One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant calliopsis is to check out the USDA zone info for Gurnee.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Calliopsis do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Gurnee 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. Any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calliopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Gurnee. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gurnee and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gurnee you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your calliopsis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gurnee

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 Gurnee

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