One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Las Cruces you can determine when to plant tithonia by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

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

It's not a good idea to plant tithonia until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia 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 tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tithonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Las Cruces. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Las Cruces and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Las Cruces it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your tithonia if you have a late frost.

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.