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.

A way of estimating when to plant arabis is to consult the USDA zone info for Bend.

Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Arabis are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Bend 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 arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your arabis indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Bend. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bend is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Bend you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your arabis if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bend

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 Bend

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