One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant anise is to refer to the USDA zone info for Mankato.

Planting Calendar for Anise

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

Anise do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant anise in Mankato 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 anise and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your anise indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Mankato. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mankato and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mankato you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your anise in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mankato

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 Mankato

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mankato.