The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Mount Prospect you should be able to figure out when you can plant schizanthus.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant schizanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Mount Prospect 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mount Prospect. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mount Prospect is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Prospect you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your schizanthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Prospect

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 Mount Prospect

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Prospect.