One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 way of determining when to plant asparagus is to consult the USDA zone info for Virginia.

Planting Calendar for Asparagus

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

Asparagus do well in cold which means that you can plant them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Virginia 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your asparagus may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your asparagus indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Virginia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Virginia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Virginia it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your asparagus in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Virginia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Virginia

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