One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant impatiens is to check out the USDA zone info for Cicero.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant impatiens until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant impatiens in Cicero 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 impatiens and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your impatiens may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your impatiens indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cicero. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cicero and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cicero you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your impatiens in the event of 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.