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.

The first chance to plant alstromeria in Crete should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alstromeria

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

Alstromeria tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant alstromeria in Crete 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 alstromeria and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your alstromeria may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your alstromeria indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Crete. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Crete may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Crete you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alstromeria in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Crete

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Crete

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