One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant bachelor buttons is to check out the USDA zone info for Machesney Park.

Planting Calendar for Bachelor Buttons

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

Bachelor Buttons tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bachelor buttons in Machesney Park 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 bachelor buttons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bachelor buttons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bachelor buttons indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Machesney Park is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Machesney Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your bachelor buttons in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Machesney Park

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 Machesney Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Machesney Park.