One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant stocks is to refer to the USDA zone info for Baltimore.

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 do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Baltimore 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. Any later than that and 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Baltimore. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Baltimore and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Baltimore there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your stocks in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baltimore

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 Baltimore

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