One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant petunias by looking at the USDA zone info for Ellisville.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since petunias are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Ellisville 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ellisville the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Ellisville is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ellisville last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your petunias in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ellisville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ellisville

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