One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

One way of making a decision about when to plant nicotiana is to look at the USDA zone info for Raton.

Planting Calendar for Nicotiana

Frost tolerance for nicotiana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant nicotiana until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant nicotiana in Raton 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 nicotiana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your nicotiana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your nicotiana indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Raton. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Raton is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Raton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your nicotiana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Raton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Raton

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