One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho it's a good idea to determine when to plant four o' clock.

Planting Calendar for Four O' Clock

Frost tolerance for four o' clock:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant four o' clock until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant four o' clock in Rio Rancho 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 four o' clock and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your four o' clock may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your four o' clock indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rio Rancho. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Rio Rancho is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Rio Rancho there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your four o' clock in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rio Rancho

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Rio Rancho

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rio Rancho.