Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant tithonia is to look at the USDA zone info for Ithaca.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

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

Since tithonia are not cold tolerant it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

In Ithaca the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ithaca and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ithaca it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tithonia if you have 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.