One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Alpena you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant bells of ireland.

Planting Calendar for Bells of Ireland

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

Bells of Ireland do ok in very little cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bells of ireland in Alpena 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 bells of ireland and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bells of ireland may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bells of ireland indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Alpena. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alpena you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your bells of ireland in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alpena

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 Alpena

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