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.

A way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant red hot pokers is to consult the USDA zone info for La Crosse.

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.

Red Hot Pokers can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant red hot pokers in La Crosse 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 red hot pokers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your red hot pokers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your red hot pokers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In La Crosse the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for La Crosse is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in La Crosse it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your red hot pokers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Crosse

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in La Crosse

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Crosse.