One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first chance to plant anchusa in Merrill can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

Frost tolerance for anchusa:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Anchusa are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Merrill. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Merrill is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Merrill you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your anchusa in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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