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

One way of getting a good idea when you can plant arabis is to use the USDA zone info for Stratford.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

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

You can plant arabis quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Stratford 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Stratford the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Stratford and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Stratford you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your arabis if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Stratford

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 Stratford

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