One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first chance to plant banana in South Bend can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant banana until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant banana in South Bend 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your banana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in South Bend. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for South Bend is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in South Bend you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your banana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South Bend

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in South Bend

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Bend.