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.

The USDA zone info for East Peoria should be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant alyssum.

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 a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in East Peoria 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 really do well. Starting your alyssum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in East Peoria. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for East Peoria and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in East Peoria last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your alyssum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Peoria

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 East Peoria

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Peoria.