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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 12a it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant bleeding hearts.

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.

Since bleeding hearts do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Zone 12a is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 12a it never frosts. It might get as low as 50°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 12a and it changes from year to year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	Never
Lowest Expected Low	50°F
Highest Expected Low	55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12a.