One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 red hot pokers in Big Stone Gap should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red Hot Pokers

Frost tolerance for red hot pokers:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since red hot pokers do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in Big Stone Gap 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your red hot pokers indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Big Stone Gap. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Big Stone Gap is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Big Stone Gap last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your red hot pokers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Stone Gap

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Stone Gap

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Stone Gap.