One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 garden orache in Normal can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Orache

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

Garden Orache do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden orache 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 garden orache and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garden orache may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garden orache indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Normal is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Normal you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your garden orache 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.