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.

The USDA zone info for Smithfield can be reviewed to figure out when to plant saxifraga.

Planting Calendar for Saxifraga

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

Saxifraga do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant saxifraga in Smithfield 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 saxifraga and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your saxifraga may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your saxifraga indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Smithfield. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smithfield is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithfield there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your saxifraga 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.