One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant gomphrena is to examine the USDA zone info for Elmira.

Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

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

Gomphrena do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Elmira 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 gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gomphrena may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your gomphrena indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Elmira. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Elmira may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Elmira last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your gomphrena if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmira

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmira

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