One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Virginia should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant sorrel.

Planting Calendar for Sorrel

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

Sorrel tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sorrel 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 sorrel and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sorrel may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your sorrel indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

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 last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your sorrel 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.