The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Waterville you can figure out when it's the best time to plant phlox by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

Frost tolerance for phlox:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since phlox do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Waterville 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waterville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Waterville

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 Waterville

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