When to Plant Gomphrena in Zone 3a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 figuring out when it's a good idea to plant gomphrena is to consult the USDA zone info for Zone 3a.


Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

Frost tolerance for gomphrena: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gomphrena tend to make it in a tiny bit of cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant gomphrena
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant gomphrena
Probably not a good time to plant gomphrena

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Zone 3a is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gomphrena may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gomphrena indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Zone 3a. It might get as low as -40°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 3a is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 3a there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your gomphrena in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.