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

The USDA zone info for Ruidoso should be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant artemesia.

Planting Calendar for Artemesia

Frost tolerance for artemesia:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Artemesia tend to make it in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant artemesia in Ruidoso is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant artemesia and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your artemesia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your artemesia indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ruidoso may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ruidoso you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your artemesia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ruidoso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Ruidoso

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