One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Island Lake you can figure out when it's the best time to plant pyrethrum by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pyrethrum

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

Pyrethrum are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pyrethrum in Island Lake 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 pyrethrum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pyrethrum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pyrethrum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Island Lake 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.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Island Lake is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Island Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pyrethrum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Island Lake

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 Island Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Island Lake.