One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Normal you can determine when you can plant alyssum by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Normal 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your alyssum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Normal is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Normal you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Normal

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 Normal

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