Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Cicero should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant tritoma.

Planting Calendar for Tritoma

Frost tolerance for tritoma:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since tritoma are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant tritoma in Cicero 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 tritoma and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tritoma may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tritoma indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Cicero. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cicero is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cicero there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your tritoma 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.