One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant bleeding hearts is to consult the USDA zone info for Darien.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bleeding Hearts do ok in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Darien is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Darien. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Darien is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Darien you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darien

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Darien

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