One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Mattoon it's a good idea to determine when you can plant celosia.

Planting Calendar for Celosia

Frost tolerance for celosia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since celosia require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant celosia in Mattoon 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 celosia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celosia may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your celosia 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 Mattoon. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mattoon is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mattoon you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your celosia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

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 Mattoon

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