One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Gretna it's possible to estimate when it's a good idea to plant garden mums.

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 moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Gretna 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. If you wait any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your garden mums indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Gretna. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Gretna is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Gretna it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your garden mums if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gretna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Gretna

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