One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Smithville you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant platycodon by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

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

Platycodon are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your platycodon may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your platycodon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Smithville. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Smithville is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithville you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your platycodon if you have one of those late frosts.

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.