One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when to plant didiscus by reviewing the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Didiscus

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

Didiscus do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant didiscus in West Chicago 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 didiscus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your didiscus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your didiscus 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 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 you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your didiscus 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.