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

One way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant salpiglossis is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 8b.

Planting Calendar for Salpiglossis

Frost tolerance for salpiglossis:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since salpiglossis require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant salpiglossis in Zone 8b 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 salpiglossis and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your salpiglossis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your salpiglossis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 8b the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 8b may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8b you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your salpiglossis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 8b

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