When to Plant Candytuft in Alton, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant candytuft is to look at the USDA zone info for Alton.


Planting Calendar for Candytuft

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

You can plant candytuft just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant candytuft in Alton 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 candytuft and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your candytuft may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your candytuft indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Alton is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your candytuft in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Alton

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