One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In East Alton you can estimate when it's the best time to plant matricaria by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Matricaria

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

Matricaria do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant matricaria in East Alton 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 matricaria and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your matricaria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your matricaria indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Alton. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for East Alton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in East Alton you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your matricaria if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Alton

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 East Alton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Alton.