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

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant red hot pokers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Mankato.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since red hot pokers are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Mankato may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mankato you get a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your red hot pokers 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.