The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant mecardonia is to look at the USDA zone info for Loves Park.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant mecardonia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia in Loves Park 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mecardonia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your mecardonia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Loves Park is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Loves Park you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your mecardonia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Loves Park

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 Loves Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Loves Park.