One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant calendula is to use the USDA zone info for Mankato.

Planting Calendar for Calendula

Frost tolerance for calendula:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant calendula a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant calendula in Mankato is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calendula and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your calendula may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your calendula indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Mankato is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mankato there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your calendula if you have a surprise 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.