One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Charleston it's possible to estimate when you can plant achimenes.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

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

Achimenes do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Charleston 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. Any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Charleston is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Charleston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your achimenes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

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 Charleston

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