One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 getting a good idea when it's possible to plant firebush is to use the USDA zone info for Rensselaer.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

Since firebush require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Rensselaer 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. If you wait any later than that and your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your firebush indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Rensselaer. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rensselaer may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rensselaer there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your firebush if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

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 Rensselaer

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