One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The first opportunity to plant chrysocephalum in West Chicago should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chrysocephalum

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

You can not plant chrysocephalum until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant chrysocephalum 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 chrysocephalum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chrysocephalum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chrysocephalum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for West Chicago is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chrysocephalum in the event of a 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.