One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant mustard is to refer to the USDA zone info for Geneva.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant mustard until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your mustard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Geneva the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Geneva is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Geneva it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your mustard if you have a 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.