Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant platycodon is to use the USDA zone info for Alcoa.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

Frost tolerance for platycodon:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Platycodon can survive in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Alcoa. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alcoa is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alcoa last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your platycodon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alcoa

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 Alcoa

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