One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

One way of estimating when it's possible to plant alyssum is to examine the USDA zone info for Old Town.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Old Town 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 fully mature. Starting your alyssum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Old Town. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Old Town is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Old Town you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your alyssum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Old Town

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 Old Town

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Old Town.