When to Plant Lobelia in Lake Elmo, MN

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.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant lobelia is to consult the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo.

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Planting Calendar for Lobelia

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

Lobelia are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lobelia
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lobelia
Probably not a good time to plant lobelia

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Lake Elmo 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lobelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Lake Elmo. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Elmo there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your lobelia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

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 Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.