One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant maltese cross is to examine the USDA zone info for New York.

Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

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

You can plant maltese cross a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in New York 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 maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your maltese cross may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your maltese cross indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in New York. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New York is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in New York you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your maltese cross if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New York

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in New York

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New York.