One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 8a can be looked at to estimate when it's a good idea to plant canna.

Planting Calendar for Canna

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant canna until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant canna in Zone 8a 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 canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your canna may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your canna indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Zone 8a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 8a is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Zone 8a there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your canna if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 8a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8a.