When to Plant Alyssum in Cary, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden 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 it's a good idea to plant alyssum is to check out the USDA zone info for Cary.


Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Since alyssum do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Cary 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your alyssum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cary the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Cary is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cary there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cary

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 Cary

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