One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In North Chicago you can estimate when to plant calla lily by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calla Lily

Frost tolerance for calla lily:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Calla Lily are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calla lily in North Chicago 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 calla lily and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your calla lily may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your calla lily indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in North Chicago. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Chicago is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in North Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your calla lily if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Chicago

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 North Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Chicago.