One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's possible to plant garden mums by checking out the USDA zone info for Carthage.

Planting Calendar for Garden Mums

Frost tolerance for garden mums:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since garden mums do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant garden mums in Carthage 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 garden mums and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your garden mums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your garden mums indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Carthage the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Carthage is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carthage you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your garden mums in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Carthage

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