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.

In Charlotte you can figure out when it's possible to plant anchusa by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Anchusa

Frost tolerance for anchusa:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant anchusa quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Charlotte. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Charlotte may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Charlotte there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your anchusa in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charlotte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Charlotte

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