When to Plant Geranium in Chatham, NJ

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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Chatham you will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant geranium.


Planting Calendar for Geranium

Frost tolerance for geranium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Geranium do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant geranium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant geranium
Probably not a good time to plant geranium

The earliest that you can plant geranium in Chatham 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 geranium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your geranium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your geranium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chatham. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chatham is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chatham last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your geranium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chatham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Chatham

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