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

One way of getting a good idea when you can plant dipladenia is to look at the USDA zone info for Athens.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

Frost tolerance for dipladenia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant dipladenia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

In Athens the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Athens and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Athens you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your dipladenia if you have one of those late frosts.

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.