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.

The first chance to plant cilantro in Normal should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cilantro

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

You can plant cilantro slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cilantro 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 cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cilantro indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Normal is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Normal it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cilantro if you have a surprise 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.