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.

The USDA zone info for Albany should be looked at to figure out when you can plant phlox.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

Frost tolerance for phlox:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since phlox do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant phlox 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Albany. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Albany and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Albany you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your phlox in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.