One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant romanesco by looking at the USDA zone info for Virginia.

Planting Calendar for Romanesco

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

Since romanesco do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romanesco 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 romanesco and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your romanesco may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your romanesco indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Virginia the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Virginia may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Virginia you get a frost after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your romanesco 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.