One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Big Lake you should be able to determine when you can plant coral bells.

Planting Calendar for Coral Bells

Frost tolerance for coral bells:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since coral bells do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant coral bells in Big Lake 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 coral bells and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coral bells may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your coral bells indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Big Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Big Lake and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Big Lake you get a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your coral bells if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Big Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Lake.