The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant salvia by using the USDA zone info for Ionia.

Planting Calendar for Salvia

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

Salvia are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ionia is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ionia there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your salvia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ionia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ionia

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