One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant cuphea by checking out the USDA zone info for Forest Lake.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Cuphea are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Forest Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Forest Lake last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cuphea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest 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 Forest Lake

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