When to Plant Bachelor Buttons in Pontiac, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant bachelor buttons by looking at the USDA zone info for Pontiac.


Planting Calendar for Bachelor Buttons

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

Since bachelor buttons do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant bachelor buttons in Pontiac 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 bachelor buttons and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your bachelor buttons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bachelor buttons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Pontiac the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Pontiac is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pontiac there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bachelor buttons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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