One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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 determining when to plant calliopsis is to consult the USDA zone info for Salem.

Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

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

Since calliopsis are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Salem 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 calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your calliopsis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Salem. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Salem and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Salem there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Salem

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