When to Plant Creeping Phlox in Zone 6a

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.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant creeping phlox by looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 6a.


Planting Calendar for Creeping Phlox

Frost tolerance for creeping phlox: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Creeping Phlox tend to make it in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant creeping phlox in Zone 6a 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 creeping phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your creeping phlox may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your creeping phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 6a. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 6a and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 6a last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your creeping phlox if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 6a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6a.