The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant gherkins is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

Frost tolerance for gherkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Gherkins are not cold tolerant which means 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 gherkins in Lake Elmo 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gherkins indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Lake Elmo. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Elmo may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lake Elmo you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your gherkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

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 Lake Elmo

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