The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening 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 making a decision about when to plant cosmos is to check out the USDA zone info for Athens.

Planting Calendar for Cosmos

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

Cosmos tend to make it in some cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cosmos in Athens 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 cosmos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cosmos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cosmos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Athens is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Athens last frost occurs after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cosmos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Athens

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 Athens

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