One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A way of making a decision about when to plant schizanthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Marengo.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

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

Since schizanthus do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Marengo 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Marengo the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marengo may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Marengo last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your schizanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marengo

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 Marengo

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