The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when to plant tritoma is to look at the USDA zone info for Altoona.

Planting Calendar for Tritoma

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

Tritoma are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant tritoma 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 tritoma and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tritoma may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your tritoma indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit 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 is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your tritoma 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.