Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Martinsville should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant tithonia.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since tithonia require warm weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Martinsville 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 tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your tithonia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Martinsville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Martinsville is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Martinsville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tithonia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Martinsville

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 Martinsville

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