When to Plant Black Eyed Susans in Wilmette, IL

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.

The first chance to plant black eyed susans in Wilmette should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant black eyed susans until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant black eyed susans
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant black eyed susans
Probably not a good time to plant black eyed susans

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Wilmette 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your black eyed susans indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Wilmette. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wilmette and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmette it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your black eyed susans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

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 Wilmette

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