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.

The earliest that you can plant liatris in East Chicago should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Liatris

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

Since liatris do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant liatris in East Chicago 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 liatris and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your liatris may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your liatris 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 East Chicago. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for East Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in East Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your liatris if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Chicago

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 East Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Chicago.