When to Plant Tarragon in Decatur, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 tarragon in Decatur should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tarragon

Frost tolerance for tarragon: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since tarragon are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant tarragon in Decatur is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tarragon and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tarragon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tarragon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Decatur. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Decatur and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Decatur it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your tarragon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

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 Decatur

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