Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 the best time to plant chrysanthemums by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemums:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Chrysanthemums do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Normal is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Normal. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Normal is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Normal you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chrysanthemums 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.