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.

In Athens you can estimate when it's the best time to plant calliopsis by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Calliopsis are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Athens 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Athens. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Athens may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Athens there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your calliopsis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Athens

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