When to Plant Cosmos in Plano, IL

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.

One way of estimating when to plant cosmos is to use the USDA zone info for Plano.

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Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cosmos do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

The last month that you can plant cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cosmos indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Plano. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Plano is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Plano you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cosmos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Plano

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 Plano

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