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.

It's a good idea to determine when to plant painted tongues by checking out the USDA zone info for East Lansing.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

You can not plant painted tongues until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in East Lansing 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Lansing. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for East Lansing and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in East Lansing it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your painted tongues if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Lansing

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 East Lansing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Lansing.