One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Ruidoso it's possible to figure out when to plant lotus vine.

Planting Calendar for Lotus Vine

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

Since lotus vine are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ruidoso and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ruidoso last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your lotus vine if you have a surprise late frost.

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.