One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Ontario you can determine when it's the best time to plant garden mums by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

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

You can plant garden mums a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Ontario 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your garden mums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ontario. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ontario may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ontario you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your garden mums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ontario

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ontario

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