One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant pincushion flower by referring to the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

Pincushion Flower tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower in Ottawa 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your pincushion flower indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pincushion flower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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