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.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant firebush by reviewing the USDA zone info for South Milwaukee.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant firebush until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in South Milwaukee 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your firebush indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in South Milwaukee. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for South Milwaukee is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in South Milwaukee last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your firebush if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South 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 South Milwaukee

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