Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

The USDA zone info for Idabel should be reffered to in order to figure out when you can plant cuphea.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cuphea until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Idabel 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 grow to maturity. Starting your cuphea indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Idabel the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Idabel may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Idabel you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cuphea in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Idabel

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Idabel

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