When to Plant Red Hot Pokers in Mount Vernon, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Mount Vernon it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea 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 tend to make it in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant red hot pokers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant red hot pokers
Probably not a good time to plant red hot pokers

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Mount Vernon 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mount Vernon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mount Vernon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Vernon there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your red hot pokers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Vernon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mount Vernon

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Vernon.