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

In Ithaca you can determine when it's possible to plant primroses by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primroses

Frost tolerance for primroses:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant primroses a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant primroses 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 primroses and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your primroses may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your primroses indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ithaca. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ithaca may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ithaca there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your primroses 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.