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

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Waukegan should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

Since verbena do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant verbena 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 verbena and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your verbena may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your verbena indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Waukegan. It might get as low as -15°F during 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 it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your verbena if you have 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.