The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when you can plant red hot pokers is to use the USDA zone info for Fort Payne.

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 tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Fort Payne 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your red hot pokers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Fort Payne. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Payne is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fort Payne you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your red hot pokers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Payne

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Fort Payne

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Payne.