When to Plant Saxifraga in Lake Forest, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lake Forest you should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant saxifraga.


Planting Calendar for Saxifraga

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

Since saxifraga are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather 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 saxifraga
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant saxifraga
Probably not a good time to plant saxifraga

The earliest that you can plant saxifraga in Lake Forest 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 saxifraga and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your saxifraga may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your saxifraga indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Lake Forest. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Forest and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Forest it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your saxifraga in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

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 Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Forest.