Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Crete can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant dipladenia.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

Frost tolerance for dipladenia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant dipladenia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dipladenia in Crete 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 dipladenia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dipladenia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your dipladenia indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Crete may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Crete last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your dipladenia 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.