One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 first chance to plant arctotis in Smithfield should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Arctotis

Frost tolerance for arctotis:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant arctotis a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant arctotis in Smithfield is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant arctotis and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your arctotis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your arctotis indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Smithfield. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smithfield is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Smithfield last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your arctotis if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithfield

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