One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 way of determining when it's the best time to plant cuphea is to consult the USDA zone info for Urbana.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Cuphea do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Urbana 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. Starting your cuphea indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbana. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Urbana is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Urbana last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cuphea if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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