One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of getting a good idea when you can plant mecardonia is to examine the USDA zone info for Smithfield.

Planting Calendar for Mecardonia

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

You should not plant mecardonia until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant mecardonia in Smithfield 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 mecardonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your mecardonia may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mecardonia indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Smithfield. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smithfield and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Smithfield you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mecardonia if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

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 Smithfield

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