One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

One way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant tall phlox is to use the USDA zone info for Chester.

Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

You can plant tall phlox a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in Chester 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your tall phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tall phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chester. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chester is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chester last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your tall phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Chester

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