One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Bedford it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant perilla.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

It's a bad idea to plant perilla until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Bedford 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. Any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Bedford. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bedford is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bedford you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your perilla in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Bedford

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