When to Plant Arabis in Suffolk, VA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant arabis is to consult the USDA zone info for Suffolk.


Planting Calendar for Arabis

Frost tolerance for arabis: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since arabis are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Suffolk is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant arabis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your arabis may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your arabis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Suffolk. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Suffolk is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Suffolk you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your arabis in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Suffolk

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Suffolk

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