When to Plant Lovage in Gurnee, 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 first opportunity to plant lovage in Gurnee should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Lovage

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

Lovage are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant lovage in Gurnee 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 lovage and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lovage may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lovage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gurnee the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gurnee 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 Gurnee you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lovage in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.