Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant achimenes is to check out the USDA zone info for Zone 5b.

Planting Calendar for Achimenes

Frost tolerance for achimenes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant achimenes until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant achimenes in Zone 5b 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 achimenes and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your achimenes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your achimenes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5b. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5b may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 5b last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your achimenes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

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