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 determining when it's possible to plant alternanthera is to examine the USDA zone info for Midlothian.

Planting Calendar for Alternanthera

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

Since alternanthera are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant alternanthera in Midlothian 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 alternanthera and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your alternanthera may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your alternanthera indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Midlothian. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Midlothian and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Midlothian it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your alternanthera in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Midlothian

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 Midlothian

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