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.

The USDA zone info for Ruidoso can be used to estimate when it's a good idea to plant pincushion flower.

Planting Calendar for Pincushion Flower

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

Pincushion Flower do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant pincushion flower 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 pincushion flower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your pincushion flower may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pincushion flower indoors.

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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ruidoso may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ruidoso you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pincushion flower 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.