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

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant bleeding hearts is to use the USDA zone info for Lima.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

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

Since bleeding hearts do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Lima 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 bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your bleeding hearts indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lima. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Lima is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lima it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your bleeding hearts if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lima

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Lima

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