One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 USDA zone info for Hillside should be used to figure out when to plant chrysanthemum.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemum

Frost tolerance for chrysanthemum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

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

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemum in Hillside 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 chrysanthemum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chrysanthemum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chrysanthemum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hillside and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Hillside it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chrysanthemum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hillside

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 Hillside

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