Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Rutherford it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant hamelia.

Planting Calendar for Hamelia

Frost tolerance for hamelia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant hamelia until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant hamelia in Rutherford 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your hamelia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rutherford. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rutherford is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rutherford there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your hamelia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rutherford

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Rutherford

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