The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant garden mums by using the USDA zone info for Charleston.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant garden mums a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Charleston is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your garden mums indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charleston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Charleston it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your garden mums in the event of a surprise 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.