One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Manchester should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant digitalis.

Planting Calendar for Digitalis

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

Digitalis do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant digitalis in Manchester 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 digitalis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your digitalis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your digitalis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Manchester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Manchester is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Manchester there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your digitalis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manchester

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 Manchester

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