One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant celery in Virginia should be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Celery

Frost tolerance for celery:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Celery are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant celery in Virginia 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 celery and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celery may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your celery 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 May 15 in Virginia. You can expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Virginia is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Virginia there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your celery in the event of a 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.