One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Altoona can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

You can plant primula quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant primula 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your primula 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. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your primula in the event of 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.