One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant radicchio is to examine the USDA zone info for Alliance.

Planting Calendar for Radicchio

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

Radicchio are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant radicchio in Alliance 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 radicchio and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your radicchio may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your radicchio indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alliance 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 Alliance and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alliance you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your radicchio in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alliance

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 Alliance

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