When to Plant Painted Tongues in Zone 5a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Zone 5a should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant painted tongues.


Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

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

Since painted tongues do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant painted tongues
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant painted tongues
Probably not a good time to plant painted tongues

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Zone 5a 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5a is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your painted tongues in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.