When to Plant Erysimum in Zone 5a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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 erysimum in Zone 5a should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Erysimum

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

Since erysimum do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant erysimum in Zone 5a 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 erysimum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your erysimum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your erysimum indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 5a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5a is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your erysimum if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.