One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 first opportunity to plant tall phlox in Virginia should be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Since tall phlox are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tall phlox may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your tall phlox indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Virginia. You should expect an average low temperature of -35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Virginia is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Virginia you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your tall phlox 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.