The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant helianthemum is to examine the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

Frost tolerance for helianthemum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Helianthemum do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant helianthemum in Rio Rancho 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 helianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your helianthemum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your helianthemum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Rio Rancho. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rio Rancho you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your helianthemum if you have 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.