When to Plant Centaurea in Oak Forest, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant centaurea in Oak Forest should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Centaurea

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

Centaurea are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant centaurea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant centaurea
Probably not a good time to plant centaurea

The earliest that you can plant centaurea in Oak Forest 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 centaurea and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your centaurea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your centaurea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Forest is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Oak Forest it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your centaurea if you have a late frost.

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.