One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The first opportunity to plant lobelia in Marion should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Lobelia can survive in cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Marion is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lobelia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Marion. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Marion may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Marion you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lobelia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

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