One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant stevia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant stevia until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Vernon Hills 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your stevia indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Vernon Hills 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 Vernon Hills may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Vernon Hills you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your stevia in the event of a 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.