One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You should be able to determine when it's possible to plant cuphea by looking at the USDA zone info for Manteno.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Cuphea do not do well in cold weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Manteno 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Manteno may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Manteno it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cuphea if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manteno

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 Manteno

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