One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant chrysanthemums is to consult the USDA zone info for Port Lavaca.

Planting Calendar for Chrysanthemums

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

Chrysanthemums can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Port Lavaca 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your chrysanthemums indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Port Lavaca the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Lavaca is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Port Lavaca you get a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your chrysanthemums in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Lavaca

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Port Lavaca

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Lavaca.