One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant scarlet pimpernels in Bethalto can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

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

You can plant scarlet pimpernels just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet pimpernels in Bethalto 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 scarlet pimpernels and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scarlet pimpernels may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your scarlet pimpernels indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Bethalto. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bethalto is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Bethalto you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your scarlet pimpernels if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bethalto

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Bethalto

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