One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 way of figuring out when to plant perilla is to consult the USDA zone info for Cottonwood.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant perilla until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Cottonwood 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your perilla may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Cottonwood. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cottonwood may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cottonwood you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your perilla if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cottonwood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Cottonwood

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