Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant banana is to look at the USDA zone info for Athens.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since banana do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Athens 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your banana indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Athens. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Athens 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 Athens you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your banana if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

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 Athens

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