One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Rome it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant alstromeria.

Planting Calendar for Alstromeria

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

Since alstromeria are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alstromeria in Rome 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 alstromeria and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your alstromeria may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your alstromeria indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rome. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rome is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Rome last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your alstromeria if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rome

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Rome

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