The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 estimating when you can plant diascia is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ithaca.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

Frost tolerance for diascia:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Diascia are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The last month that you can plant diascia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your diascia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your diascia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ithaca. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ithaca and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ithaca there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your diascia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ithaca

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 Ithaca

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