When to Plant Delphinium in Westchester, IL

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

The USDA zone info for Westchester should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's a good idea to plant delphinium.

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Planting Calendar for Delphinium

Frost tolerance for delphinium: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Delphinium are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant delphinium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant delphinium
Probably not a good time to plant delphinium

The earliest that you can plant delphinium in Westchester is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant delphinium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your delphinium may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your delphinium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Westchester. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Westchester and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Westchester you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your delphinium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

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 Westchester

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Westchester.