One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 possible to plant calliopsis is to refer to the USDA zone info for Commerce.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

You can not plant calliopsis until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Commerce 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. Any later than that and your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your calliopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Commerce. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Commerce is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Commerce there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Commerce

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 Commerce

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