When to Plant Liatris in Chelsea, MA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Chelsea you should be able to determine when to plant liatris.


Planting Calendar for Liatris

Frost tolerance for liatris: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Liatris do well in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant liatris
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant liatris
Probably not a good time to plant liatris

The earliest that you can plant liatris in Chelsea is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant liatris and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your liatris may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your liatris indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chelsea. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chelsea may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chelsea you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your liatris in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

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 Low0°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 Chelsea

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