One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for Belfast can be looked at to estimate when it's the best time to plant aubretia.

Planting Calendar for Aubretia

Frost tolerance for aubretia:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since aubretia are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant aubretia in Belfast 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 aubretia and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your aubretia may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your aubretia indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Belfast. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Belfast is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Belfast it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your aubretia if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belfast

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 Belfast

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