One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Lake Elmo can be reffered to in order to determine 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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon in Lake Elmo 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your platycodon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your platycodon indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Elmo you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your platycodon in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.