The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant calliopsis is to check out the USDA zone info for Kankakee.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Calliopsis do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Kankakee. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Kankakee is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Kankakee last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kankakee

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 Kankakee

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