When to Plant Gomphrena 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.

You can figure out when you can plant gomphrena in Ottawa by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

Frost tolerance for gomphrena: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant gomphrena just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Ottawa is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gomphrena may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your gomphrena indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind 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 Ottawa and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your gomphrena in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.