One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant thyme is to examine the USDA zone info for Eau Claire.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

You can plant thyme quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Eau Claire 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Eau Claire. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Eau Claire and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Eau Claire last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your thyme in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Eau Claire

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 Eau Claire

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Eau Claire.