The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Virginia it's a good idea to figure out when it's possible to plant cleome.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since cleome are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Virginia is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

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.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Virginia is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Virginia there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cleome in the event of 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.