One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant petunias by referring to the USDA zone info for Mechanicville.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Petunias are barely cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Mechanicville 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mechanicville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Mechanicville is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Mechanicville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your petunias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mechanicville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Mechanicville

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