One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's possible to figure out when to plant lobelia by looking at the USDA zone info for Forest City.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Forest City is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your lobelia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Forest City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Forest City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Forest City there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lobelia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Forest City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Forest City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Forest City.