Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant thyme is to look at the USDA zone info for Galesburg.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Since thyme are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Galesburg 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Galesburg. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Galesburg is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Galesburg there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your thyme if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Galesburg

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 Galesburg

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