One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 opportunity to plant thyme in Joliet can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Thyme can survive in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Joliet 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Joliet. You can 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 changes from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your thyme in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.