Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant gomphrena is to refer to the USDA zone info for Rice Lake.

Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

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

Since gomphrena do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Rice Lake 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 gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gomphrena may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your gomphrena indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rice Lake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rice Lake you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your gomphrena in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rice Lake

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 Rice Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rice Lake.