One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 it's a good idea to plant perilla is to use the USDA zone info for Americus.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

You can not plant perilla until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Americus 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. If you are starting your perilla indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Americus the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Americus is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Americus you get a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your perilla if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Americus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Americus

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