Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant broccoli in Virginia should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

Frost tolerance for broccoli:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Broccoli are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant broccoli 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your broccoli may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your broccoli indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Virginia you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your broccoli if you have one of those late frosts.

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.