Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant alyssum by referring to the USDA zone info for Riverdale.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

Frost tolerance for alyssum:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Alyssum do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Riverdale. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Riverdale and it is different every year. Half of the time in Riverdale last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your alyssum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Riverdale

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 Riverdale

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