Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 Big Rapids it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant bleeding hearts.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bleeding Hearts are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Big Rapids 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 bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Big Rapids. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Big Rapids is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Big Rapids it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your bleeding hearts in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Rapids.