The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Lake Forest it's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant sweet potatos.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since sweet potatos are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Lake Forest 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 sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Forest the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Forest 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 Forest you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your sweet potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

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.