When to Plant Cuphea in Zone 6b

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant cuphea in Zone 6b by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cuphea

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

Cuphea do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cuphea
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cuphea
Probably not a good time to plant cuphea

The earliest that you can plant cuphea in Zone 6b 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. Any later than that and your cuphea may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cuphea indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Zone 6b. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 6b is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 6b last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cuphea in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 6b

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 Low0°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 Zone 6b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 6b.