One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant arabis in Geneva by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis do well in cold which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Geneva 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your arabis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Geneva. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Geneva last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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