Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant garden mums is to use the USDA zone info for Shelby.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since garden mums are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Shelby 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your garden mums indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shelby. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelby is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Shelby last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your garden mums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

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 Shelby

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