When to Plant Lantana in Kankakee, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 USDA zone info for Kankakee should be reviewed to determine when to plant lantana.


Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Lantana do not do well in cold weather which means that it is necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant lantana 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 lantana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lantana may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lantana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed 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. Since half of the time in Kankakee you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your lantana in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.