The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant copperleaf is to examine the USDA zone info for Missoula.

Planting Calendar for Copperleaf

Frost tolerance for copperleaf:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant copperleaf until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant copperleaf in Missoula 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 copperleaf and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your copperleaf may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your copperleaf indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Missoula the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Missoula is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Missoula last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your copperleaf in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Missoula

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Missoula

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