One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant petunias is to use the USDA zone info for Geneva.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Petunias can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Geneva 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your petunias indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Geneva there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your petunias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Geneva

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