Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant primula is to examine the USDA zone info for Gardiner.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Since primula are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Gardiner 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your primula 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 Gardiner. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gardiner is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gardiner you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your primula in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gardiner

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Gardiner

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