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.

It's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant bleeding hearts by checking out the USDA zone info for Benson.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bleeding Hearts are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Benson 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 bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Benson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Benson is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Benson you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Benson

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