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 common way of estimating when to plant firebush is to consult the USDA zone info for New Castle.

Planting Calendar for Firebush

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

You should not plant firebush until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant firebush in New Castle 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 firebush and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your firebush may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your firebush indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in New Castle. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Castle may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in New Castle last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your firebush if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Castle

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 New Castle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Castle.