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 earliest that you can plant doronicum in West Chicago should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Doronicum

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

Doronicum do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in West Chicago. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your doronicum 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.