When to Plant Impatiens in Harvard, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 impatiens in Harvard should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Impatiens

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

Impatiens are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant impatiens 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your impatiens may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your impatiens indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Harvard is not always accurate 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 just be sure to be ready to protect your impatiens 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.