When to Plant Thyme in Edwardsville, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Edwardsville can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant thyme.


Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Thyme are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Edwardsville 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your thyme indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Edwardsville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Edwardsville is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Edwardsville it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your thyme in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Edwardsville

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 Edwardsville

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