One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 USDA zone info for Plainfield should be looked at to estimate when to plant arabis.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis do well in cold which means that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Plainfield 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your arabis 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 Plainfield. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Plainfield and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Plainfield last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your arabis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Plainfield

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 Plainfield

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