Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant four o' clock is to check out the USDA zone info for Wilmette.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You should not plant four o' clock until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock 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 four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your four o' clock may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your four o' clock indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wilmette and it can change quite a bit 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 prepared to protect your four o' clock in the event of a late frost.

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.