When to Plant Primula 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.

You can determine when to plant primula in Lake Bluff by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Primula do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant primula 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your primula may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your primula indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lake Bluff. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff and it 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 just be sure to be ready to cover your primula in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.