One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when you can plant achimenes is to examine the USDA zone info for Independence.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant achimenes until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Independence is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achimenes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Independence is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Independence you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your achimenes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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