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.

You will be able to figure out when to plant lunaria by reviewing the USDA zone info for Ithaca.

Planting Calendar for Lunaria

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

Lunaria can survive in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lunaria 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 lunaria and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lunaria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lunaria indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ithaca and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ithaca you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lunaria in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.