Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant platycodon is to look at the USDA zone info for Sturgis.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

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

Platycodon do well in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon in Sturgis 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your platycodon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your platycodon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sturgis. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sturgis is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sturgis there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your platycodon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sturgis

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sturgis

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