One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The first chance to plant alternanthera in Carmel should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

Frost tolerance for alternanthera:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant alternanthera until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Carmel 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 alternanthera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alternanthera may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your alternanthera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Carmel. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Carmel may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Carmel it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your alternanthera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

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 Carmel

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