The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant skullcap in Island Lake should be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since skullcap do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant skullcap in Island Lake 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your skullcap may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your skullcap indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Island Lake. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Island Lake is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Island Lake there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your skullcap if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Island Lake

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 Island Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Island Lake.