One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant hamelia is to check out the USDA zone info for Ruston.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant hamelia until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Ruston 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 hamelia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your hamelia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your hamelia indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Ruston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Ruston is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ruston you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your hamelia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ruston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ruston

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