One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant garden mums is to look at the USDA zone info for Wilmington.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

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

Garden Mums can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Wilmington 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your garden mums indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Wilmington. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Wilmington is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmington there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your garden mums if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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