One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant arabis is to check out the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

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 quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant arabis in Alexandria 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. If you wait any later than that and your arabis may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your arabis indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alexandria may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alexandria there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your arabis in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Alexandria

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