One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Bensenville should be read to estimate when it's possible to plant arabis.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Arabis can survive in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Bensenville 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Bensenville is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bensenville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bensenville

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 Bensenville

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