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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Spencer you will be able to figure out when to plant red hot pokers.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

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

Red Hot Pokers do well in cold which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Spencer 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red hot pokers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Spencer the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Spencer is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Spencer it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your red hot pokers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spencer

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Spencer

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