The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant gherkins is to look at the USDA zone info for Piedmont.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

Frost tolerance for gherkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant gherkins until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Piedmont 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Piedmont the average date of last frost happens on January 31. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Piedmont and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Piedmont there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Piedmont

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Piedmont

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