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.

The first opportunity to plant painted tongues in Alpena should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

You really shouldn't plant painted tongues until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Alpena. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alpena you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your painted tongues if you have 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.