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

In Chelsea you can determine when it's a good idea to plant petunias by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant petunias slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Chelsea is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chelsea. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chelsea is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chelsea you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your petunias if you have a surprise late frost.

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.