One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Willows should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant garden mums.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

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

Garden Mums can survive in moderate 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 garden mums in Willows is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your garden mums indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Willows. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Willows is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Willows last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your garden mums in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Willows

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Willows

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