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.

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant garden mums in Manhattan by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

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

Garden Mums do well in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Manhattan 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garden mums may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your garden mums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Manhattan. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Manhattan is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Manhattan you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your garden mums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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