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

The best time to plant chrysanthemums in Bismarck can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

You can plant chrysanthemums a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Bismarck 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chrysanthemums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Bismarck. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bismarck is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Bismarck last frost occurs after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chrysanthemums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bismarck

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Bismarck

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