One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

In Monticello you can figure out when it's possible to plant red hot pokers by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Red Hot Pokers can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Monticello is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Monticello. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Monticello is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Monticello last frost occurs after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your red hot pokers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Monticello

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Monticello

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Monticello.