One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of figuring out when to plant skullcap is to examine the USDA zone info for Braidwood.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

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

Since skullcap require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Braidwood and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Braidwood last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your skullcap if you have one of those late frosts.

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.