One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant arabis by referring to the USDA zone info for Dover.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

Arabis can survive in quite a bit of cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Dover 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. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dover. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Dover may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dover last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

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 Dover

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