One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant canna is to look at the USDA zone info for Chelsea.

Planting Calendar for Canna

Frost tolerance for canna:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant canna until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Chelsea. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chelsea is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chelsea last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your canna if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Chelsea

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