One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Marion it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant tritoma.

Planting Calendar for Tritoma

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

Since tritoma are very cold tolerant you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant tritoma 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 tritoma and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your tritoma may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tritoma indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Marion may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Marion it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your tritoma 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.