When to Plant Asparagus Fern in Harvard, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Harvard should be reviewed to determine when to plant asparagus fern.


Planting Calendar for Asparagus Fern

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant asparagus fern until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant asparagus fern in Harvard 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 asparagus fern and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your asparagus fern may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your asparagus fern indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Harvard is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Harvard last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your asparagus fern if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harvard

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 Harvard

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