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

The first opportunity to plant nierembergia in Amherst can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Nierembergia

Frost tolerance for nierembergia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant nierembergia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant nierembergia in Amherst 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 nierembergia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nierembergia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your nierembergia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Amherst the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Amherst and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Amherst you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nierembergia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Amherst

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 Amherst

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