One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

One way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant bleeding hearts is to consult the USDA zone info for Port Royal.

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.

Bleeding Hearts do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Port Royal 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Port Royal. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Royal may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Port Royal it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your bleeding hearts if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Royal

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 Port Royal

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Royal.