The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Alfred can be used to determine when it's the best time to plant cosmos.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

Frost tolerance for cosmos:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Cosmos do ok in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cosmos may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cosmos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alfred the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Alfred is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alfred you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cosmos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alfred

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 Alfred

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