Generally — Most Areas
paper mulberry (zones 6-10) suits most of Illinois (5a-7b) — zones 6-7 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
Paper Mulberry in Illinois — the short answer
Paper Mulberry in Illinois: hardy in zones 6–10, full sun, against a state median of ~212 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 6-10
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Illinois zones
- 5a-7b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 29 - Apr 8 – Oct 28 - Nov 5
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 177 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Illinois spans zones 5a-7b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score paper mulberry against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Illinois is not one climate
Illinois’s winter-low ladder runs across 102 counties, from zone 5 in Carroll County to zone 7 in Williamson County. That is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between paper mulberry overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 102 counties runs 5.5–6.5 zones, with a median of 6 zones — a 2-zone span end to end.
Measured across 102 Illinois counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where in Illinois Fits Best
Paper Mulberry is rated for zones 6–10 — a cold floor USDA puts at -10 to 0°F. Against Illinois’s 102 counties that band holds in 74 of them, and the line runs at Adams County (zone 6a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 6–10
74 counties
- Brown County · zone 6a
- Cass County · zone 6a
- Champaign County · zone 6a
3 of 74 shown
Below the zone 6 floor
28 counties
- Carroll County · zone 5a
- Jo Daviess County · zone 5a
- Stephenson County · zone 5a
3 of 28 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Even within Illinois's zones 5a-7b, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for paper mulberry (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Paper Mulberry Needs
- USDA Zones: 6-10
- Sun: Full Sun
Illinois Has
- USDA Zones: 5a-7b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 29 - Apr 8
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 28 - Nov 5
- Annual Rainfall: 34-48 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Silt loam, Clay loam
Plant Zone Range (zones 6-10)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Paper Mulberry in Illinois
The frost window
Across Illinois, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 29 and Apr 8, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 28 and Nov 5 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 203-day window you can count on — up to 221 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Winter standing
Illinois runs as cold as USDA zone 5, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for paper mulberry, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether paper mulberry is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Illinois; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Paper Mulberry tolerates a wide pH range (pH 4.5-8) — 3.5 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Illinois. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5 and 7.5 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Illinois soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Illinois site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Illinois soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant paper mulberry for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before paper mulberry goes in. What follows is Illinois’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Illinois — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Illinois — 52,971 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 622 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Illinois carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Illinois
Severity Distribution
across Illinois
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Illinois, two things run higher than the national average across Illinois — PFAS (482 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (3,504 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Paper Mulberry in Illinois
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Illinois growers also need to think about:
Heavy clay soils in northern IL drain poorly
Extreme temperature swings between summer and winter
Japanese beetles are a major garden pest
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Illinois grower, not just paper mulberry — is covered on the Illinois growing guide.
Where in Illinois Paper Mulberry Is Zone-Hardy
Paper Mulberry is rated for USDA zones 6–10. 74 of Illinois’s 102 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Adams County at zone 6a. 28 counties sit below the plant’s zone 6 floor, where an unprotected plant is relying on snow cover and a mild year. Where you are in Illinois decides this one.
Across those 102 counties Illinois’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 5a in Carroll County to zone 7a in Williamson County — 2 USDA zones of spread, which is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. That is why a statewide hardiness answer is where you start and not where you finish.
The planting window moves with it. Jo Daviess County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about Apr 22, while Alexander County is clear by Mar 17 — 36 days apart. Set paper mulberry out on your county’s date, not the state’s.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F killing freeze — earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost". Paper Mulberry’s zone 6–10 band: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Illinois Cooperative Extension
For Illinois-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for paper mulberry, the canonical source is University of Illinois Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Paper Mulberry native to Illinois?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Paper Mulberry as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Illinois's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Illinois natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Illinois growing guide lists USDA-documented natives for the state.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Paper Mulberry in Illinois
When can I plant Paper Mulberry in Illinois?
Illinois's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 29 and Apr 8, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 28 and Nov 5 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Paper Mulberry, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Illinois and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Paper Mulberry grown in across Illinois?
Illinois spans USDA hardiness zones 5a-7b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Paper Mulberry carries a range of zones 6-10, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Illinois site have?
A typical Illinois site sees ~212 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Paper Mulberry should be matched against that window, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Paper Mulberry native to Illinois?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Paper Mulberry as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Illinois's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Illinois natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Paper Mulberry in Illinois?
Paper Mulberry tolerates pH 4.5-8 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 3.5-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Illinois site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Paper Mulberry actually grow on my specific land in Illinois?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores paper mulberry against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Illinois
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores paper mulberry against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Illinois paper mulberry averages can't show:
We read public map data around Illinois — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Illinois paper mulberry average
Explore More
Growing guides for paper mulberry
Explore Illinois county by county
Illinois carries 102 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for paper mulberry there:
Where else paper mulberry grows
Paper Mulberry's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Illinois in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Illinois
Illinois has a growing page for 893 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Last updated: