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.

In Molalla you can estimate when it's the best time to plant alternanthera by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

Frost tolerance for alternanthera:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's not a good idea to plant alternanthera until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Molalla 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 alternanthera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alternanthera may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your alternanthera indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Molalla. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Molalla is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Molalla last frost occurs after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alternanthera if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Molalla

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 Molalla

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