One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Normal can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant sweet potatos until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos 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 sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your sweet potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Normal last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet potatos 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.