When to Plant Flower-of-an-Hour in Lake Bluff, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff you will be able to estimate when to plant flower-of-an-hour.


Planting Calendar for Flower-of-an-Hour

Frost tolerance for flower-of-an-hour: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Flower-of-an-Hour do well in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Probably not a good time to plant flower-of-an-hour

The earliest that you can plant flower-of-an-hour in Lake Bluff is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant flower-of-an-hour and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your flower-of-an-hour may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your flower-of-an-hour indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Lake Bluff. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lake Bluff it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your flower-of-an-hour 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.