One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Racine can be used to determine when it's a good idea to plant purple bell vines.

Planting Calendar for Purple Bell Vines

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Racine the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Racine is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Racine you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your purple bell vines in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Racine

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Racine

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