Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 estimate when you can plant lobelia by checking out the USDA zone info for Altoona.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

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

Since lobelia are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lobelia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your lobelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Altoona. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Altoona and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your lobelia if you have a 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.