The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Oak Forest you will be able to estimate when you can plant phlox.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Phlox can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant phlox 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Oak Forest. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Forest is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Oak Forest you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your phlox in the event of 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.