One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant cuphea is to look at the USDA zone info for Barnwell.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

You can not plant cuphea until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Barnwell 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. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cuphea indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Barnwell the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Barnwell is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Barnwell you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cuphea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Barnwell

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 Barnwell

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