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

In Milwaukee you can estimate when it's the best time to plant arctotis by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since arctotis are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Milwaukee 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arctotis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Milwaukee. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Milwaukee is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Milwaukee you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arctotis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Milwaukee

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 Milwaukee

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