One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant roses is to examine the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Roses

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

You can plant roses a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant roses 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 roses and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your roses may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your roses indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your roses if you have 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.