When to Plant Calibrachoa in Harvard, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 chance to plant calibrachoa in Harvard should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calibrachoa

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

Since calibrachoa are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant calibrachoa in Harvard 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 calibrachoa and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your calibrachoa may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calibrachoa indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harvard. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Harvard is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Harvard last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your calibrachoa 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.