One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Waukegan you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant geum by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Geum

Frost tolerance for geum:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant geum just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant geum in Waukegan is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In Waukegan the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waukegan is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Waukegan there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your geum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waukegan

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 Waukegan

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