One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Utica can be looked at to figure out when to plant liatris.

Planting Calendar for Liatris

Frost tolerance for liatris:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Liatris do well in a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Utica. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Utica and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Utica you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your liatris if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Utica

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 Utica

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