One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for Roanoke should be read to figure out when it's possible to plant potatos.

Planting Calendar for Potatos

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

Potatos do well in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Roanoke 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 potatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Roanoke. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Roanoke may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Roanoke it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Roanoke

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Roanoke

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