When to Plant Strawflowers in Mendota, 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.

The USDA zone info for Mendota should be reffered to in order to determine when you can plant strawflowers.


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 well in very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to 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 Mendota 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 fully mature. Starting your strawflowers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mendota is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mendota you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your strawflowers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mendota

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 Mendota

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