One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Vail should be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant alyssum.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

Frost tolerance for alyssum:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since alyssum do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Vail 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your alyssum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Vail. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vail and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Vail last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alyssum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Vail

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Vail

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