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

One way of making a decision about when to plant phlox is to look at the USDA zone info for Clear Lake.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Phlox do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Clear Lake 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your phlox may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Clear Lake the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Clear Lake is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Clear Lake it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your phlox if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Clear Lake

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 Clear Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Clear Lake.