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.

In Fruita you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant maltese cross by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Maltese Cross

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

Since maltese cross are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant maltese cross in Fruita 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 maltese cross and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your maltese cross may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your maltese cross indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Fruita. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fruita is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fruita you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your maltese cross in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fruita

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Fruita

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