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.

In Altoona you can estimate when it's possible to plant scabiosa by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Scabiosa

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

You can plant scabiosa a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant scabiosa in Altoona 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 scabiosa and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your scabiosa may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your scabiosa 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 April 15 in Altoona. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your scabiosa if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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