One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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 arctotis in Mishawaka should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since arctotis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Mishawaka 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 arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arctotis 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 Mishawaka. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mishawaka may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mishawaka last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your arctotis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mishawaka

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 Mishawaka

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