Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Hood River can be reviewed to figure out when you can plant petunias.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Petunias are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Hood River 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your petunias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hood River the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hood River and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Hood River it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your petunias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Hood River

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Hood River

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hood River.