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.

In Lake Bluff you can determine when it's the best time to plant tropical water plants by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant tropical water plants until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Lake Bluff is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lake Bluff. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Bluff it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tropical water plants 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.