When to Plant Perilla in Lowell, MA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant perilla is to look at the USDA zone info for Lowell.


Planting Calendar for Perilla

Frost tolerance for perilla: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Perilla are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant perilla
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant perilla
Probably not a good time to plant perilla

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Lowell 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your perilla indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lowell is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lowell you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your perilla in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

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 Lowell

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