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

In Normal you can determine when it's a good idea to plant basket of gold by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Basket of Gold

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

You can plant basket of gold a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant basket of gold 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 basket of gold and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your basket of gold may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your basket of gold indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Normal the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Normal and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Normal there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your basket of gold if you have 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.