One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant yarrow is to examine the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Yarrow

Frost tolerance for yarrow:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since yarrow do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant yarrow 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 yarrow and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your yarrow may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your yarrow indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Chicago and it 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 yarrow 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.