One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 USDA zone info for East Alton should be read to figure out when to plant coreopsis.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant coreopsis just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in East Alton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your coreopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in East Alton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for East Alton is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in East Alton it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your coreopsis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Alton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in East Alton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Alton.