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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant hosta is to examine the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

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

Hosta are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hosta in Alexandria 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your hosta may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your hosta indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alexandria 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.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alexandria and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Alexandria you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hosta in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

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 Alexandria

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