One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You can figure out when it's possible to plant achimenes in Alpena by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Achimenes do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Alpena 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Alpena. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alpena and it is different every year. Half of the time in Alpena last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your achimenes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alpena

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 Alpena

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