One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant hosta by referring to the USDA zone info for Ilion.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

Hosta do well in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Ilion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ilion is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ilion you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hosta in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ilion

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 Ilion

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