One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lake Bluff should be reviewed to estimate when it's a good idea to plant ornamental grasses.

Planting Calendar for Ornamental Grasses

Frost tolerance for ornamental grasses:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant ornamental grasses just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant ornamental grasses 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 ornamental grasses and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your ornamental grasses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your ornamental grasses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Lake Bluff. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Bluff you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your ornamental grasses in the event of a 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.