One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Rio Rancho you can estimate when you can plant red hot pokers by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since red hot pokers do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red hot pokers may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho and it changes 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 red hot pokers in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.