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.

It's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant tropical water plants by looking at the USDA zone info for Ephrata.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

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

Tropical Water Plants are not cold tolerant which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Ephrata 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ephrata. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ephrata may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ephrata you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tropical water plants in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ephrata

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ephrata

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