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.

The best time to plant borage in Normal can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Borage

Frost tolerance for borage:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since borage are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant borage 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 borage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your borage may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your borage indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Normal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Normal is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Normal you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your borage if you have a late frost.

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.