One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant red hot pokers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

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

Red Hot Pokers tend to make it in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Vernon Hills 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Vernon Hills. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Vernon Hills there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your red hot pokers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Vernon Hills

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 Vernon Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Vernon Hills.