Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

One way of getting a good idea when you can plant cleome is to use the USDA zone info for Rolling Meadows.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant cleome until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Rolling Meadows 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cleome indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rolling Meadows. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rolling Meadows and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rolling Meadows you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rolling Meadows

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 Rolling Meadows

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rolling Meadows.