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 common way of determining when to plant diascia is to use the USDA zone info for Peoria.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

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

Since diascia do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant diascia in Peoria 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 diascia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your diascia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your diascia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Peoria the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Peoria may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Peoria you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your diascia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Peoria

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

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