One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant achimenes by reviewing the USDA zone info for Harlan.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since achimenes require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Harlan 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achimenes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Harlan. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Harlan may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Harlan it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your achimenes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harlan

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 Harlan

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