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.

The USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids can be looked at to figure out when you can plant perilla.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

Since perilla are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Cedar Rapids 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Cedar Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cedar Rapids is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Cedar Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your perilla in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Cedar Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Rapids.