Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant petunias is to look at the USDA zone info for La Porte.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Petunias do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in La Porte is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

In La Porte the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for La Porte and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Porte you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your petunias in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Porte

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 La Porte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Porte.