One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Chester you should be able to estimate when to plant lisianthus.

Planting Calendar for Lisianthus

Frost tolerance for lisianthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Lisianthus do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant lisianthus in Chester 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 lisianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your lisianthus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lisianthus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chester. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chester may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chester there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lisianthus in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Chester

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