One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can estimate when to plant painted tongues in Fairbanks by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

Since painted tongues do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Fairbanks is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your painted tongues indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Fairbanks. You can expect an average low temperature of -50°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairbanks may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fairbanks last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your painted tongues if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	August 15
Lowest Expected Low	-50°F
Highest Expected Low	-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

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