One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can figure out when you can plant digitalis in North Chicago by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Digitalis

Frost tolerance for digitalis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant digitalis a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant digitalis in North Chicago is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your digitalis may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your digitalis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for North Chicago and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in North Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your digitalis in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.