Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 8a should be reffered to in order to determine when it's a good idea 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.

You can plant bleeding hearts just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Zone 8a 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 fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bleeding hearts indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Zone 8a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 8a is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 8a there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to cover your bleeding hearts in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 8a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8a.