The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Athens can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant radicchio.

Planting Calendar for Radicchio

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

Radicchio do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Athens is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your radicchio in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Athens

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