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.

The earliest that you can plant dipladenia in Zone 6a can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Dipladenia

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant dipladenia until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant dipladenia in Zone 6a 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 dipladenia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your dipladenia may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your dipladenia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6a is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 6a there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your dipladenia in the event of 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.