One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant anchusa is to refer to the USDA zone info for Marengo.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

Frost tolerance for anchusa:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant anchusa quite a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant anchusa in Marengo is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant anchusa and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your anchusa may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your anchusa indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Marengo. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marengo and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Marengo you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your anchusa if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marengo

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 Marengo

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