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

In Suffolk you can figure out when it's the best time to plant dipladenia by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

Frost tolerance for dipladenia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since dipladenia are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant dipladenia in Suffolk 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 dipladenia and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your dipladenia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dipladenia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Suffolk the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Suffolk is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Suffolk you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your dipladenia if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Suffolk

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 Suffolk

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