The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant schizanthus is to use the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Schizanthus do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in West Chicago. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Chicago may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in West Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your schizanthus 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.