One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Winnetka should be read to figure out when it's possible to plant diascia.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

Frost tolerance for diascia:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Diascia do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant diascia in Winnetka is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant diascia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your diascia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your diascia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Winnetka and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Winnetka you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your diascia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winnetka

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 Winnetka

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