One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant firebush is to check out the USDA zone info for Herrin.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

It's not a good idea to plant firebush until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Herrin 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Herrin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Herrin may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Herrin you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your firebush in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Herrin

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 Herrin

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