One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant arabis is to use the USDA zone info for Blue Island.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Blue Island 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Blue Island. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Blue Island is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Blue Island there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Blue Island

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 Blue Island

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Blue Island.