When to Plant Geranium in Pontiac, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant geranium in Pontiac can be determined by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

Geranium require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Pontiac. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Pontiac is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pontiac it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your geranium 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.