One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Lake Zurich should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant arctotis.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

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

Since arctotis are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Lake Zurich 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your arctotis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Lake Zurich. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Zurich is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Zurich there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arctotis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Zurich

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 Zurich

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