One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of estimating when it's possible to plant perilla is to use the USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

Since perilla require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Mechanicsburg 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your perilla indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Mechanicsburg. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mechanicsburg is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mechanicsburg last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your perilla in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mechanicsburg

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 Mechanicsburg

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