One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Sparta you can determine when it's a good idea to plant perilla by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant perilla until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Sparta 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Sparta. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Sparta is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sparta you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your perilla if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Sparta

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