When to Plant Pampas Grass in University Park, IL

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 figuring out when it's possible to plant pampas grass is to examine the USDA zone info for University Park.


Planting Calendar for Pampas Grass

Frost tolerance for pampas grass: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

You can not plant pampas grass until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pampas grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pampas grass
Probably not a good time to plant pampas grass

The earliest that you can plant pampas grass in University 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 pampas grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pampas grass may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pampas grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in University Park. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for University Park may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in University Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your pampas grass if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for University Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in University Park

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