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

A way of estimating when to plant achimenes is to look at the USDA zone info for Shippensburg.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	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 achimenes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Shippensburg 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your achimenes indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Shippensburg. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Shippensburg may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Shippensburg you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your achimenes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shippensburg

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 Shippensburg

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