When to Plant Gomphrena in Harvard, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Harvard can be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

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

Since gomphrena do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Harvard the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Harvard may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Harvard you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gomphrena 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.