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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Evanston you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant thyme.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Thyme tend to make it in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Evanston. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Evanston is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Evanston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your thyme in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Evanston

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