When to Plant Skullcap in Westchester, IL

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.

The USDA zone info for Westchester should be read to determine when it's the best time to plant skullcap.


Planting Calendar for Skullcap

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant skullcap until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant skullcap in Westchester 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your skullcap may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your skullcap indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Westchester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Westchester is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Westchester it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your skullcap if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

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 Westchester

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