One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The earliest that you can plant iberis in Cortez should be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iberis

Frost tolerance for iberis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Iberis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant iberis in Cortez 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 iberis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your iberis may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your iberis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cortez. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cortez is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Cortez you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your iberis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cortez

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Cortez

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