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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant cleome is to examine the USDA zone info for Nanticoke.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant cleome until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Nanticoke 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cleome 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 Nanticoke. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Nanticoke may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Nanticoke you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cleome in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Nanticoke

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Nanticoke

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