One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant perilla is to check out the USDA zone info for Normal.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since perilla do not do well in cold weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Normal. 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 it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your perilla 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.