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

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant platycodon by referring to the USDA zone info for Virginia.

Planting Calendar for Platycodon

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

Since platycodon do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant platycodon 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 platycodon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your platycodon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your platycodon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Virginia. It might get as low as -35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Virginia may not be accurate from year to year 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 platycodon if you have 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.