When to Plant Calliopsis in Mattoon, IL

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

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant calliopsis in Mattoon by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Calliopsis do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Mattoon 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calliopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mattoon. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mattoon is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Mattoon last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your calliopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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