Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Park Forest it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant gayfeather.

Planting Calendar for Gayfeather

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

Gayfeather do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gayfeather 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 gayfeather and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your gayfeather may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gayfeather indoors.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Park Forest is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Park Forest there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your gayfeather if you have one of those late frosts.

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.