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 USDA zone info for Marion can be used to figure out when to plant lithospermum.

Planting Calendar for Lithospermum

Frost tolerance for lithospermum:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant lithospermum until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lithospermum in Marion 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 lithospermum and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lithospermum may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lithospermum indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marion is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marion it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your lithospermum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

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 Marion

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