The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant platycodon is to refer to the USDA zone info for Mishawaka.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

Frost tolerance for platycodon:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Platycodon tend to make it in mild cold which means that 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 platycodon in Mishawaka 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your platycodon may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your platycodon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Mishawaka the average date of last frost happens on April 15. 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. Half of the time in Mishawaka you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your platycodon if you have 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.