One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 making a decision about when it's the best time to plant chrysanthemum is to examine the USDA zone info for Swarthmore.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemum

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

It's not a good idea to plant chrysanthemum until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Swarthmore. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Swarthmore is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Swarthmore you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your chrysanthemum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Swarthmore

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Swarthmore

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