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

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant salvia by looking at the USDA zone info for Iola.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

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

Since salvia are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant salvia in Iola 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 salvia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your salvia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salvia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Iola. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Iola may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Iola there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your salvia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Iola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Iola

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