One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 getting a good idea when it's possible to plant hosta is to consult the USDA zone info for El Dorado.

Planting Calendar for Hosta

Frost tolerance for hosta:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since hosta are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant hosta in El Dorado 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 hosta and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your hosta may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your hosta indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in El Dorado. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for El Dorado is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in El Dorado there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your hosta in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for El Dorado

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 El Dorado

You may be interested in your other planting guides for El Dorado.