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

The USDA zone info for Loves Park can be used to determine when it's possible to plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant cleome until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is 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 it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your cleome if you have one of those late frosts.

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.