One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Artesia you can estimate when it's the best time to plant firebush by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

Frost tolerance for firebush:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since firebush do not do well in cold weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Artesia 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Artesia. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Artesia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Artesia you get a frost after January 31 so always be ready to protect your firebush if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Artesia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Artesia

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