One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first chance to plant arabis in Valparaiso can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant arabis quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Valparaiso. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Valparaiso is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Valparaiso you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your arabis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valparaiso

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 Valparaiso

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