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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for North Chicago it's possible to figure out when you can plant mecardonia.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

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

Since mecardonia require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mecardonia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your mecardonia 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. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for North Chicago may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in North Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your mecardonia 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.