One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant fuchsia in Joliet can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

Frost tolerance for fuchsia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant fuchsia until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia 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 fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fuchsia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your fuchsia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Joliet 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 the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Joliet and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your fuchsia if you have a late frost.

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.