One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Smithville should be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea to plant arabis.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis do well in cold which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Smithville 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Smithville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smithville and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithville

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 Smithville

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