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 USDA zone info for Dayton can be looked at to determine when it's a good idea to plant tropical water plants.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since tropical water plants do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Dayton is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Dayton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Dayton is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your tropical water plants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

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 Dayton

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