One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Tacoma you can determine when it's the best time to plant bleeding hearts by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

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

Bleeding Hearts tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Tacoma. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tacoma is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Tacoma last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tacoma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Tacoma

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