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.

In Ottawa you can determine when you can plant pennyroyal by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pennyroyal

Frost tolerance for pennyroyal:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since pennyroyal are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pennyroyal in Ottawa 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 pennyroyal and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pennyroyal may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pennyroyal indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your pennyroyal in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ottawa.