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

The USDA zone info for Mattoon can be used to figure out when to plant digitalis.

Planting Calendar for Digitalis

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

Digitalis do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant digitalis in Mattoon 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 digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your digitalis may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your digitalis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mattoon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Mattoon is 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 cover your digitalis if you have a late frost.

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.