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

A way of making a decision about when you can plant red hot pokers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Montgomery.

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 do well in cold weather 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 Montgomery 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. 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Montgomery. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Montgomery is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Montgomery there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your red hot pokers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Montgomery

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 Montgomery

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