One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Bedford should be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

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

It's a bad idea to plant tomatos until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Bedford 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 tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tomatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Bedford. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bedford and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bedford last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your tomatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

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 Bedford

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