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

One way of making a decision about when you can plant lavender cotton is to examine the USDA zone info for Braidwood.

Planting Calendar for Lavender Cotton

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

Lavender Cotton do ok in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lavender cotton in Braidwood 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 lavender cotton and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lavender cotton may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lavender cotton indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Braidwood the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Braidwood is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Braidwood last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lavender cotton in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Braidwood

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 Braidwood

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