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

The USDA zone info for Rensselaer should be read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant skullcap.

Planting Calendar for Skullcap

Frost tolerance for skullcap:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant skullcap until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant skullcap in Rensselaer 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 skullcap and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your skullcap may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your skullcap indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Rensselaer the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rensselaer may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rensselaer it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your skullcap in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

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 Rensselaer

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