One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for South Bend you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant calliopsis.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since calliopsis require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in South Bend. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for South Bend 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 South Bend there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your calliopsis 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.