One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

In Alexandria you can estimate when it's the best time to plant schizanthus by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

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

It's not a good idea to plant schizanthus until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Alexandria 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your schizanthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alexandria the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Alexandria is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Alexandria last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your schizanthus in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

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 Alexandria

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