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

A way of figuring out when to plant pincushion flower is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

Frost tolerance for pincushion flower:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since pincushion flower are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pincushion flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lake Bluff is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Bluff you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pincushion flower 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.