One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant fuchsia is to look at the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Fuchsia

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

You really shouldn't plant fuchsia until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant fuchsia in Ottawa 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 fuchsia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your fuchsia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your fuchsia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ottawa the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your fuchsia in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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