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.

You should be able to determine when to plant stevia by using the USDA zone info for Merrill.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

Frost tolerance for stevia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since stevia are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant stevia in Merrill is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant stevia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your stevia indoors.

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.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Merrill and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Merrill you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your stevia if you have one of those late frosts.

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.