One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The USDA zone info for Mentor can be used to estimate when it's possible to plant stevia.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You should not plant stevia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Mentor 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 stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your stevia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mentor. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mentor is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Mentor last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your stevia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mentor

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Mentor

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