Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant alyssum is to use the USDA zone info for Longwood.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum do well in cold which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Longwood 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your alyssum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Longwood is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Longwood you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your alyssum in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Longwood

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 Longwood

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