Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for West Chicago should be looked at to determine when to plant stevia.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Stevia require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant stevia 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your stevia 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.