The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant nicotiana is to examine the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

Frost tolerance for nicotiana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Nicotiana do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your nicotiana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ottawa. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your nicotiana if you have a surprise 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.