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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant schizanthus is to look at the USDA zone info for Litchfield.

Planting Calendar for Schizanthus

Frost tolerance for schizanthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since schizanthus are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant schizanthus in Litchfield 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 schizanthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your schizanthus may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your schizanthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Litchfield. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Litchfield and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Litchfield last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your schizanthus if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Litchfield

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 Litchfield

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