One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Gretna you will be able to estimate when 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 do well in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Gretna is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. 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. Starting your red hot pokers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Gretna. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Gretna is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Gretna it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your red hot pokers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gretna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Gretna

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