When to Plant Black Eyed Susans in Oak Forest, IL

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.

You can determine when you can plant black eyed susans in Oak Forest by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since black eyed susans are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant black eyed susans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant black eyed susans
Probably not a good time to plant black eyed susans

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Oak Forest 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your black eyed susans indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Oak Forest the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Oak Forest is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Oak Forest last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your black eyed susans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Forest

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 Oak Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Forest.