One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The USDA zone info for Niles should be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant fanflower.

Planting Calendar for Fanflower

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

It's not a good idea to plant fanflower until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant fanflower in Niles 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 fanflower and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your fanflower may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your fanflower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Niles the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Niles may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Niles you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your fanflower if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Niles

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 Niles

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