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 USDA zone info for Lafayette should be read to estimate when you can plant petunias.

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.

You can plant petunias just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Lafayette 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. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lafayette the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lafayette there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your petunias if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Lafayette

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