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

In Mankato you can estimate when to plant purple bell vines by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Purple Bell Vines

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

Since purple bell vines do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines 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 purple bell vines and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your purple bell vines may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your purple bell vines 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 should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mankato and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mankato you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your purple bell vines if you have 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.