One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Las Cruces can be used to determine when you can plant firebush.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

Frost tolerance for firebush:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant firebush until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in Las Cruces 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Las Cruces the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember 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 Las Cruces and it is different every year. Half of the time in Las Cruces you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your firebush in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Las Cruces

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Las Cruces

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Las Cruces.