One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Wilmette you can determine when it's possible to plant tagetes by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tagetes

Frost tolerance for tagetes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant tagetes until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmette it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your tagetes if you have 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.