One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

In North Charleston you can determine when to plant bleeding hearts by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since bleeding hearts are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in North Charleston is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

In North Charleston the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for North Charleston and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in North Charleston it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bleeding hearts if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for North Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in North Charleston

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Charleston.