One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Athens should be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Verbena

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

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

The earliest that you can plant verbena in Athens 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 verbena and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your verbena may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your verbena indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Athens. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Athens and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Athens there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your verbena in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

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 Athens

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