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

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant lisianthus is to check out the USDA zone info for Altoona.

Planting Calendar for Lisianthus

Frost tolerance for lisianthus:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since lisianthus require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant lisianthus in Altoona is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lisianthus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lisianthus may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lisianthus indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Altoona. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lisianthus in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.