One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 estimating when you can plant helianthemum is to look at the USDA zone info for Covington.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

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

Since helianthemum are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Covington the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Covington may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Covington last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your helianthemum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Covington

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 Covington

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