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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant bells of ireland is to check out the USDA zone info for Ripley.

Planting Calendar for Bells of Ireland

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

Since bells of ireland are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bells of ireland in Ripley 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 bells of ireland and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bells of ireland may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bells of ireland 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 Ripley. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ripley and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ripley last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bells of ireland in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ripley

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ripley

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