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.

In Longmont you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant painted tongues by using 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 are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Longmont 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your painted tongues may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your painted tongues indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Longmont the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Longmont is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Longmont you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your painted tongues if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Longmont

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Longmont

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