When to Plant Celosia in Joliet, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Joliet should be looked at to figure out when you can plant celosia.


Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Celosia are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Joliet and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Joliet you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your celosia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Joliet.