One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Manhattan can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant geranium until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Manhattan 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. Any later than that and your geranium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your geranium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Manhattan. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Manhattan is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manhattan you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your geranium in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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