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.

The USDA zone info for Zone 4b should be read to figure out when it's a good idea to plant anise.

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 one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant anise in Zone 4b 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. If you wait any later than that and your anise may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your anise indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 4b the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 4b is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 4b it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your anise if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 4b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 4b

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