When to Plant Cleome in Milan, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Milan should be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant cleome.


Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Since cleome are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Milan is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Milan you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cleome if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Milan

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 Milan

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