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.

In La Plata you can determine when you can plant cleome by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since cleome require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in La Plata 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In La Plata the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for La Plata is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Plata there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cleome if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for La Plata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in La Plata

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Plata.