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.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant geranium is to check out the USDA zone info for Stone Park.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant geranium until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Stone Park 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your geranium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your geranium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Stone Park. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Stone Park is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Stone Park there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your geranium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stone Park

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 Stone Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Stone Park.