When to Plant Hosta in South Milwaukee, WI

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

The best time to plant hosta in South Milwaukee should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

Since hosta do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant hosta
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant hosta
Probably not a good time to plant hosta

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in South Milwaukee. In the coldest months of winter you should 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 can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in South Milwaukee last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your hosta if you have a surprise late frost.

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.