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

In Joliet you can figure out when it's possible to plant perilla by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant perilla until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your perilla indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Joliet is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Joliet last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your perilla in the event of a surprise 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.