When to Plant Alyssum in Pontiac, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Pontiac it's a good idea to figure out when to plant alyssum.


Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Since alyssum 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant alyssum
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant alyssum
Probably not a good time to plant alyssum

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Pontiac. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Pontiac is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pontiac you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your alyssum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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