When to Plant Alternanthera in Columbia, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Columbia it's a good idea to determine when to plant alternanthera.


Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

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

Since alternanthera do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant alternanthera
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant alternanthera
Probably not a good time to plant alternanthera

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Columbia 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. Any later than that and 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

In Columbia the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Columbia is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your alternanthera if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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