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

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Wilmette can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

Verbena tend to make it in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Wilmette 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 verbena and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your verbena may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your verbena indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmette is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Wilmette there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your verbena in the event of a surprise 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.