One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Onalaska it's possible to estimate when you can plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant cleome until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Onalaska is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cleome indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Onalaska. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Onalaska and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Onalaska you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cleome if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Onalaska

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Onalaska

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