When to Plant Strawflowers in Mattoon, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when to plant strawflowers in Mattoon by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Strawflowers

Frost tolerance for strawflowers: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Strawflowers do ok in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant strawflowers in Mattoon is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant strawflowers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your strawflowers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your strawflowers 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mattoon 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 Mattoon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your strawflowers 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.