One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant geranium by referring to the USDA zone info for Monticello.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Geranium require warm weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Monticello 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your geranium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your geranium indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Monticello is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Monticello there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your geranium if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

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 Monticello

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