One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Ottawa should be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant scarlet pimpernels.

Planting Calendar for Scarlet Pimpernels

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

You can plant scarlet pimpernels just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant scarlet pimpernels in Ottawa 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 scarlet pimpernels and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scarlet pimpernels may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your scarlet pimpernels indoors.

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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your scarlet pimpernels if you have 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.