Cosmos

University of Illinois Extension, 'Time Your Vegetable Plantings by Cold Hardiness' (2018-03-26), extension.illinois.edu/blogs/ilriverhort/2018-03-26-time-your-vegetable-plantings-cold-hardiness: very hardy vegetables 'withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts without injury' (planted earliest in spring); frost-tolerant vegetables 'can withstand light frosts, but not freezing temperatures' (planted a couple of weeks later). LLM-summarised from a read of the page; it establishes the CATEGORIES but states no week offsets.

Colorado State Univ. Extension, GardenNotes #720, 'Vegetable Planting Guide', extension.colostate.edu/resource/vegetable-planting-guide (read 2026-07-25): hardy vegetables go in 'As early as 2-4 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost'; semi-hardy 'As early as 0-2 weeks before the date of the average last spring frost'; tender from seed 'around the date of the average last spring frost'; very tender 'Typically 2+ weeks after'. This is the source that states the offsets in weeks.

Where this rule sits in that range: hardy at 3 weeks is mid-range of CSU's 2-4. Half-hardy at 2 weeks is the EARLIEST EDGE of CSU's 0-2 - the most aggressive planting CSU sanctions, not the middle of it. The rule is inside published guidance at both ends, but it leans early on the half-hardy side and a gardener following it in a cold spring is taking that boundary.

Do not import an offset from another publication's hardiness scheme without checking the category names: CSU has no 'very hardy' tier, so a '4-6 weeks before frost' figure written against a four-tier scheme does not describe CSU's 'hardy'. Categories are not comparable across sources.

University of Minnesota Extension, 'Starting seeds indoors', extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/starting-seeds-indoors: seed-starting chart gives tomato '5-6 weeks' and pepper and eggplant '9 weeks' before the outdoor planting date (warm crops set out after the last frost). Read 2026-07-19 (LLM-summarised); read by the maintainer 2026-07-25, which is the read that promoted this rule. Note what the corpus's per-crop values do with the sources: tomato 6 sits at the top of Minnesota's '5-6 weeks' and inside Illinois's '6-8'; pepper and eggplant 8 sit BELOW Minnesota's '9 weeks' and at the top of Illinois's '6-8'. They are a reconciliation of two published ranges, not a figure either source prints.

University of Illinois Extension, 'When should I start my seeds?' (2023-02-10), extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2023-02-10-when-should-i-start-my-seeds: peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant started '6-8 weeks before the last frost'. Read 2026-07-19.