When to Plant Regal Geranium in Sterling, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant regal geranium by referring to the USDA zone info for Sterling.


Planting Calendar for Regal Geranium

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

Regal Geranium do ok in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant regal geranium in Sterling 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 regal geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your regal geranium may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your regal geranium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Sterling the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sterling may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Sterling there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your regal geranium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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