When to Plant Calibrachoa in Melrose Park, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Melrose Park you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant calibrachoa.


Planting Calendar for Calibrachoa

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

Calibrachoa do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Melrose Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Melrose Park may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Melrose Park you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your calibrachoa if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Melrose 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 Melrose Park

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