One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when you can plant hamelia in Lombard by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since hamelia are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Lombard 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your hamelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your hamelia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lombard. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lombard is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lombard you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your hamelia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lombard

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 Lombard

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lombard.