One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The USDA zone info for Reading can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant chrysanthemums.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

You can plant chrysanthemums just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Reading 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Reading 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Reading is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Reading you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chrysanthemums if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Reading

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 Reading

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