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.

A common way of estimating when to plant achimenes is to look at the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

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

You really shouldn't plant achimenes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Ottawa 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your achimenes 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 Ottawa. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your achimenes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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