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.

The USDA zone info for Cincinnati can be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant calliopsis.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Since calliopsis do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Cincinnati 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calliopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Cincinnati the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cincinnati is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cincinnati it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cincinnati

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Cincinnati

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