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.

The first chance to plant schizanthus in Birmingham should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant schizanthus until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Birmingham 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your schizanthus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Birmingham. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Birmingham is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Birmingham last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your schizanthus if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Birmingham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Birmingham

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