When to Plant Festuca in Peoria Heights, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Peoria Heights it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant festuca.


Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Peoria Heights 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your festuca indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Peoria Heights is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Peoria Heights last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your festuca in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria Heights

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 Peoria Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Peoria Heights.