One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A way of determining when it's the best time to plant four o' clock is to use the USDA zone info for Normal.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant four o' clock until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your four o' clock may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your four o' clock indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Normal may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Normal there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your four o' clock 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.