Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Elk River can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant platycodon.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

Frost tolerance for platycodon:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant platycodon a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon in Elk River 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your platycodon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your platycodon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elk River and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elk River you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your platycodon if you have 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.