One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 getting a good idea when to plant stocks is to examine the USDA zone info for Roanoke.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

Frost tolerance for stocks:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Stocks are barely cold tolerant which means that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Roanoke 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 stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stocks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your stocks indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Roanoke the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Roanoke may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Roanoke last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your stocks 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.