One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Carbondale you can estimate when it's the best time to plant lithospermum by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lithospermum

Frost tolerance for lithospermum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant lithospermum in Carbondale 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 lithospermum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lithospermum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lithospermum indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Carbondale. 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 Carbondale and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carbondale you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your lithospermum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carbondale

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 Carbondale

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