One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant scabiosa by using the USDA zone info for Normal.

Planting Calendar for Scabiosa

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

Scabiosa are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant scabiosa 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 scabiosa and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scabiosa may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your scabiosa indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Normal is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Normal you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your scabiosa in the event of a 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.