One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Evanston you can figure out when to plant bellis by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bellis

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

Bellis do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bellis in Evanston 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 bellis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your bellis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bellis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Evanston. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Evanston is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Evanston it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your bellis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Evanston

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