The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 creeping phlox in Lake Bluff should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

Frost tolerance for creeping phlox:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since creeping phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Lake Bluff 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your creeping phlox may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your creeping phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Bluff you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your creeping phlox if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Bluff

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 Lake Bluff

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