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.

In Sterling you can determine when it's the best time to plant lisianthus by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lisianthus

Frost tolerance for lisianthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since lisianthus do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant lisianthus in Sterling 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 lisianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lisianthus may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lisianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sterling the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Sterling is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Sterling you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lisianthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Sterling

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