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

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant snow-in summer is to look at the USDA zone info for Mankato.

Planting Calendar for Snow-in Summer

Frost tolerance for snow-in summer:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Snow-in Summer can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer 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 snow-in summer and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your snow-in summer may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your snow-in summer indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Mankato is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mankato last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your snow-in summer 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.