Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Carmi should be used to estimate when to plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Cuphea are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Carmi is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Carmi. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Carmi is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carmi you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cuphea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carmi

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 Carmi

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