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 common way of determining when you can plant perilla is to use the USDA zone info for Hillsborough.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since perilla are not cold tolerant you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Hillsborough is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Hillsborough. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hillsborough and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hillsborough last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your perilla if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillsborough

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hillsborough

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