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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Manchester you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant salvia.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

Frost tolerance for salvia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Salvia do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Manchester is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant salvia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your salvia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Manchester. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manchester is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manchester you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your salvia if you have a surprise late frost.

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.