Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when you can plant red hot pokers in Lake Elmo by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

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

Since red hot pokers are very cold tolerant you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Elmo the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Elmo last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your red hot pokers in the event of 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.