One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for River Forest it's a good idea to estimate when to plant chrysanthemums.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

You can plant chrysanthemums slightly earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in River Forest 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in River Forest. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for River Forest may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in River Forest you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chrysanthemums in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for River Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in River Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for River Forest.