When to Plant Painted Tongues in Manchester, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's possible to plant painted tongues is to check out the USDA zone info for Manchester.


Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

Since painted tongues are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant painted tongues
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant painted tongues
Probably not a good time to plant painted tongues

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Manchester 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. Starting your painted tongues indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Manchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Manchester may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your painted tongues in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

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 Manchester

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