Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Cicero you can figure out when to plant echinacea by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Echinacea

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

Echinacea are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant echinacea in Cicero 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 echinacea and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your echinacea may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your echinacea 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 Cicero. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cicero is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cicero you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your echinacea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cicero

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 Cicero

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