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.

The USDA zone info for Manchester should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant lisianthus.

Planting Calendar for Lisianthus

Frost tolerance for lisianthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant lisianthus until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant lisianthus in Manchester 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 lisianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lisianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lisianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Manchester it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lisianthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

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 Manchester

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