Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant mecardonia is to use the USDA zone info for Elk River.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant mecardonia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia in Elk River is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 little bit earlier by starting your mecardonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Elk River. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elk River is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elk River last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your mecardonia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elk River

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 Elk River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elk River.