One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant cuphea is to check out the USDA zone info for Gonzales.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since cuphea require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Gonzales is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Gonzales. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Gonzales is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Gonzales you get a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your cuphea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gonzales

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gonzales

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