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

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant hosta is to check out the USDA zone info for Charleston.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

Frost tolerance for hosta:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Hosta can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant hosta in Charleston is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your hosta may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hosta indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charleston. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Charleston you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your hosta if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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