One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Charleston you can estimate when it's possible to plant cuphea by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cuphea

Frost tolerance for cuphea:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Cuphea do not do well in cold weather which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Charleston 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 cuphea and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cuphea may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Charleston last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your cuphea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

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 Charleston

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