When to Plant Galium in Ottawa, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 it's the best time to plant galium by looking at the USDA zone info for Ottawa.


Planting Calendar for Galium

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

Since galium are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant galium in Ottawa 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 galium and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your galium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your galium 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 Ottawa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your galium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ottawa.