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.

The USDA zone info for Highlands should be read to figure out when it's possible to plant tropical water plants.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

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

Tropical Water Plants require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Highlands 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Highlands. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Highlands is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Highlands it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your tropical water plants in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Highlands

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Highlands

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