One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Altoona you can determine when to plant coreopsis by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

Frost tolerance for coreopsis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since coreopsis do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Altoona the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Altoona is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your coreopsis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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