One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You can figure out when to plant salsify in Amherst by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Salsify

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

You can plant salsify a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant salsify in Amherst 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 salsify and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your salsify may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your salsify indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Amherst. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Amherst is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Amherst it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your salsify if you have a 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.