The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. 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 Washington should be reffered to in order to determine when to plant chrysanthemum.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemum

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant chrysanthemum until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

In Washington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Washington is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Washington you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your chrysanthemum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Washington

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 Washington

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