One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant aurinia is to examine the USDA zone info for Loves Park.

Planting Calendar for Aurinia

Frost tolerance for aurinia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant aurinia much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant aurinia in Loves Park 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 aurinia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your aurinia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your aurinia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Loves Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Loves Park and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Loves Park last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your aurinia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Loves Park

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 Loves Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Loves Park.