When to Plant Four-o-clock flower in Machesney Park, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant four-o-clock flower in Machesney Park should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Four-o-clock flower

Frost tolerance for four-o-clock flower: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Since four-o-clock flower require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant four-o-clock flower
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant four-o-clock flower
Probably not a good time to plant four-o-clock flower

The earliest that you can plant four-o-clock flower in Machesney 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 four-o-clock flower and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your four-o-clock flower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your four-o-clock flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Machesney Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Machesney Park and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Machesney Park there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your four-o-clock flower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Machesney 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 Machesney Park

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