One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Cortland you can figure out when it's the best time to plant mecardonia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

Frost tolerance for mecardonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant mecardonia until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia in Cortland 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mecardonia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mecardonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cortland. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cortland may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cortland there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your mecardonia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cortland

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 Cortland

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