One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 Chicago should be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant pennyroyal.

Planting Calendar for Pennyroyal

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

Pennyroyal do well in cold which means that you can get them planted much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pennyroyal in Chicago 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 pennyroyal and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennyroyal may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pennyroyal indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Chicago. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chicago is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your pennyroyal in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago

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 Chicago

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