One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 can figure out when it's a good idea to plant iresene in Petal by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iresene

Frost tolerance for iresene:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since iresene do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant iresene in Petal 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 iresene and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your iresene may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your iresene indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Petal. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Petal may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Petal you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your iresene if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Petal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Petal

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