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 way of making a decision about when to plant torch lilys is to examine the USDA zone info for Cornelius.

Planting Calendar for Torch Lilys

Frost tolerance for torch lilys:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Torch Lilys tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

In Cornelius the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Cornelius is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Cornelius you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your torch lilys in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cornelius

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Cornelius

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