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.

The first opportunity to plant tomatos in Franklin should be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant tomatos until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Franklin is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tomatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Franklin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Franklin you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tomatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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