One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant perilla is to look at the USDA zone info for Ligonier.

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 all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Ligonier 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. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ligonier is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ligonier there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your perilla in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ligonier

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 Ligonier

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