One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The USDA zone info for East Alton can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant salpiglossis.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

Frost tolerance for salpiglossis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant salpiglossis until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

In East Alton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for East Alton is not always accurate 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 protect your salpiglossis in the event of 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.