One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 first opportunity to plant purple bell vines in Rantoul should be figured out by looking at 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.

Since purple bell vines are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines in Rantoul 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 Rantoul. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rantoul is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rantoul it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your purple bell vines in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rantoul

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 Rantoul

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