One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when you can plant diascia is to consult the USDA zone info for Independence.

Planting Calendar for Diascia

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

You can plant diascia a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant diascia in Independence 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 diascia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your diascia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your diascia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Independence. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Independence 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 Independence last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your diascia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Independence

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 Independence

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