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.

In York you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant alyssum by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

You can plant alyssum much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in York 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your alyssum indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for York may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in York you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for York

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 York

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