Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Smithville it's a good idea to estimate when you can plant chrysanthemums.

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.

You can plant chrysanthemums just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chrysanthemums in Smithville 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 chrysanthemums and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your chrysanthemums may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your chrysanthemums indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Smithville is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Smithville it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your chrysanthemums in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smithville

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 Smithville

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