One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

One way of making a decision about when to plant squash is to refer to the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

Since squash are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Alexandria 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Alexandria the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alexandria and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Alexandria there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your squash in the event of a surprise 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.