One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Rolling Meadows you will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant flax.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

Flax tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant flax in Rolling Meadows 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 flax and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your flax may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your flax indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rolling Meadows is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rolling Meadows it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your flax if you have a surprise late frost.

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.