The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant garden mums in Dover should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

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 do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Dover 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your garden mums indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dover. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Dover is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dover it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your garden mums in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

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 Dover

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