One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The first opportunity to plant anise in Zone 4a can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Anise

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

Since anise are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant anise in Zone 4a 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 anise and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your anise indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Zone 4a. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Zone 4a is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 4a it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your anise if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 4a

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 Zone 4a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 4a.