Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant petunias is to refer to the USDA zone info for Cicero.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Petunias are barely cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your petunias indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cicero the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Cicero is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cicero it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your petunias in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.