The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Athens can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Salvia do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Athens is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant salvia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your salvia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your salvia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Athens is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Athens last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your salvia in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.