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.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant amaranthus is to check out the USDA zone info for Palatine.

Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

Frost tolerance for amaranthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since amaranthus are not cold tolerant you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your amaranthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Palatine. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palatine is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Palatine it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your amaranthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Palatine

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 Palatine

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