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

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant mecardonia is to examine the USDA zone info for Alpena.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Mecardonia do not do well in cold weather which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia in Alpena 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your mecardonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your mecardonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Alpena. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alpena may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Alpena last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your mecardonia in the event of a surprise 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.