One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant geranium by looking at the USDA zone info for Dayton.

Planting Calendar for Geranium

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant geranium until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Dayton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Dayton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Dayton last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your geranium in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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