One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant lobelia in Wilmington can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Wilmington 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lobelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wilmington. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Wilmington is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmington last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your lobelia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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