One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant strawflowers in Athens should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Strawflowers

Frost tolerance for strawflowers:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Strawflowers are barely cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Athens the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Athens is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Athens there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your strawflowers in the event of a late frost.

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.