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

In Federal Way you can determine when it's possible to plant lobelia by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

Frost tolerance for lobelia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lobelia much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia in Federal Way 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your lobelia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Federal Way. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Federal Way is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Federal Way you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lobelia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Federal Way

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 Federal Way

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Federal Way.