Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Charleston can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant purple bell vines.

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.

Purple Bell Vines do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant purple bell vines in Charleston 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 purple bell vines and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your purple bell vines may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your purple bell vines indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Charleston the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your purple bell vines if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Charleston.