One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Chelsea you will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lavender.

Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Lavender are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lavender in Chelsea 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 lavender and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lavender may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lavender indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Chelsea. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chelsea is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chelsea it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your lavender in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

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 Chelsea

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