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.

A common way of figuring out when to plant hosta is to consult the USDA zone info for Effingham.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

Hosta do ok in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hosta in Effingham 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your hosta may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your hosta indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Effingham may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Effingham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your hosta in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Effingham

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 Effingham

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