One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when it's possible to plant tropical water plants is to refer to the USDA zone info for Sparta.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

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

It's a bad idea to plant tropical water plants until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in Sparta 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tropical water plants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Sparta. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sparta is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sparta it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your tropical water plants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

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 Sparta

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