One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 Elwood should be read to estimate when it's the best time to plant impatiens.

Planting Calendar for Impatiens

Frost tolerance for impatiens:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant impatiens until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant impatiens in Elwood 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. If you wait any later than that and your impatiens may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your impatiens indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Elwood. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Elwood is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elwood last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your impatiens if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elwood

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 Elwood

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