Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant coreopsis is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ruidoso.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

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

Coreopsis can survive in some cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Ruidoso 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 coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coreopsis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your coreopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ruidoso. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

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. Since half of the time in Ruidoso it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your coreopsis if you have 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.