When to Plant Hosta in Highland Park, 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 most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant hosta in Highland Park can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Hosta

Frost tolerance for hosta: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Hosta are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant hosta in Highland Park is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Highland Park. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Highland Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Highland Park last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your hosta in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Highland Park

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 Highland Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Highland Park.