One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for North Chicago it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant gomphrena.

Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

Frost tolerance for gomphrena:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gomphrena do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for North Chicago is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in North Chicago you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your gomphrena 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.