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 New Ulm you can determine when you can plant thyme by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Since thyme do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in New Ulm 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your thyme indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in New Ulm. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Ulm may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New Ulm it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your thyme in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Ulm

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in New Ulm

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Ulm.