One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 best time to plant phlox in Cottage Grove can be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Phlox

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

Since phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant phlox in Cottage Grove 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 phlox and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Cottage Grove the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Cottage Grove is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cottage Grove it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your phlox if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cottage Grove

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Cottage Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cottage Grove.