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

A common way of making a decision about when to plant amaranthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Independence.

Planting Calendar for Amaranthus

Frost tolerance for amaranthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since amaranthus require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant amaranthus in Independence 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 amaranthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your amaranthus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your amaranthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Independence. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Independence is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Independence last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your amaranthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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