One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Albany should be reviewed to estimate when to plant pansies.

Planting Calendar for Pansies

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

Pansies do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pansies in Albany is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pansies and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pansies may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pansies indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Albany. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Albany is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Albany last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pansies if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albany

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Albany

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