One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Crystal Lake can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant black pepper until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Crystal Lake 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 black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your black pepper indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Crystal Lake 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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Crystal Lake may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Crystal Lake last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your black pepper in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Crystal Lake

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 Crystal Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Crystal Lake.