Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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 determining when it's possible to plant pansies is to refer to the USDA zone info for Skokie.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

Frost tolerance for pansies:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Pansies are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Skokie 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 pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pansies indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Skokie the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Skokie may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Skokie there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your pansies in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Skokie

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 Skokie

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Skokie.