One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant nicotiana is to look at the USDA zone info for Marion.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

Frost tolerance for nicotiana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since nicotiana require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Marion 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your nicotiana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Marion is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Marion you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nicotiana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

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 Marion

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