Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in West Chicago can be figured out 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.

You should not plant amaranthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in West Chicago 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. If you wait any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your amaranthus indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for West Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your amaranthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.