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.

It's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant cerastium by referring to the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Cerastium

Frost tolerance for cerastium:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Cerastium do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cerastium in West Chicago 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 cerastium and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cerastium may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cerastium indoors.

Last Frost Date

In West Chicago 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.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cerastium if you have a surprise late frost.

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.