One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant nasturtium in Joliet should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nasturtium

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

It's a bad idea to plant nasturtium until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant nasturtium in Joliet 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 nasturtium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your nasturtium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your nasturtium indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Joliet. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Joliet may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your nasturtium if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

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