When to Plant Rosemary 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 most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when you can plant rosemary by referring to the USDA zone info for Oak Forest.


Planting Calendar for Rosemary

Frost tolerance for rosemary: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Rosemary are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant rosemary 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 rosemary and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your rosemary may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your rosemary indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Oak Forest. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Oak Forest and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Forest there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your rosemary in the event of a surprise 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.