One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant arabis is to examine the USDA zone info for Murphysboro.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Murphysboro 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Murphysboro. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Murphysboro and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Murphysboro you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your arabis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Murphysboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Murphysboro

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