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

By looking at the USDA zone info for Urbana you should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant anise.

Planting Calendar for Anise

Frost tolerance for anise:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant anise in Urbana is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant anise and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your anise indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbana. In the coldest months of winter you can 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 Urbana and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Urbana it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your anise if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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