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 possible to figure out when it's possible to plant torenia by referring to the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Torenia

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

Since torenia are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant torenia 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 torenia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your torenia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your torenia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on 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 changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your torenia 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.