One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The best time to plant purple bell vines in Chicago can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Bell Vines

Frost tolerance for purple bell vines:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Purple Bell Vines do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines in Chicago is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant purple bell vines and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your purple bell vines may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your purple bell vines indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Chicago. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chicago and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your purple bell vines in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chicago

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