When to Plant Celosia in Wilmington, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant celosia in Wilmington should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Celosia

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

Celosia require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant celosia in Wilmington 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your celosia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your celosia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wilmington. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

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 Wilmington and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmington it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your celosia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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