One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant platycodon is to look at the USDA zone info for Downingtown.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

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

Platycodon do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon in Downingtown 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your platycodon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your platycodon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Downingtown. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Downingtown and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Downingtown you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your platycodon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Downingtown

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 Low	0°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 Downingtown

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