One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant hemerocallis by referring to the USDA zone info for Mankato.

Planting Calendar for Hemerocallis

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

Since hemerocallis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hemerocallis 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 hemerocallis and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your hemerocallis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your hemerocallis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mankato is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mankato there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to protect your hemerocallis in the event of 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.