Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 to plant basket of gold is to refer to the USDA zone info for South Bend.

Planting Calendar for Basket of Gold

Frost tolerance for basket of gold:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since basket of gold are very cold tolerant you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant basket of gold in South Bend 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 basket of gold and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your basket of gold may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your basket of gold indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in South Bend. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for South Bend is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in South Bend it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your basket of gold if you have a 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.