One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant amaranthus in Urbana by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant amaranthus until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in Urbana 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 amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your amaranthus indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbana. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Urbana is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Urbana it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your amaranthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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