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

The USDA zone info for Thatcher should be looked at to estimate when you can plant painted tongues.

Planting Calendar for Painted Tongues

Frost tolerance for painted tongues:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant painted tongues until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant painted tongues in Thatcher 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 painted tongues and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your painted tongues may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your painted tongues indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Thatcher is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Thatcher there is a last frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your painted tongues if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Thatcher

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 Thatcher

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