When to Plant Lantana in River Forest, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for River Forest it's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant lantana.


Planting Calendar for Lantana

Frost tolerance for lantana: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Lantana do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant lantana in River Forest 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 lantana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lantana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lantana indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in River Forest. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for River Forest and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in River Forest you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lantana if you have a 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.