One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Dover it's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since okra do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dover. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dover is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Dover you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your okra in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dover

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Dover

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