One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Wilmington it's a good idea to determine when to plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Cuphea are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Wilmington. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Wilmington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmington last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cuphea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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