One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant dusty miller is to consult the USDA zone info for Park Forest.

Planting Calendar for Dusty Miller

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

Since dusty miller are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant dusty miller in Park 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 dusty miller and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your dusty miller may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dusty miller indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Park Forest. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Park Forest is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Park Forest you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your dusty miller if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Park 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 Park Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Park Forest.