One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant alyssum is to use the USDA zone info for Worcester.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Worcester 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your alyssum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Worcester is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Worcester it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Worcester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Worcester

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