When to Plant Larkspur in Marengo, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant larkspur in Marengo should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Larkspur

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

Larkspur tend to make it in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant larkspur
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant larkspur
Probably not a good time to plant larkspur

The earliest that you can plant larkspur in Marengo 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 larkspur and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your larkspur may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your larkspur indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Marengo. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marengo is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Marengo there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your larkspur if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marengo

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 Marengo

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