One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 best time to plant garden mums in Winthrop Harbor can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

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

Garden Mums do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Winthrop Harbor 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garden mums indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Winthrop Harbor. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Winthrop Harbor is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Winthrop Harbor you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your garden mums in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winthrop Harbor

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 Winthrop Harbor

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Winthrop Harbor.