Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when to plant petunias is to look at the USDA zone info for Albemarle.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

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

Since petunias are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Albemarle 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your petunias indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Albemarle. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Albemarle is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Albemarle you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your petunias if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Albemarle

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Albemarle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Albemarle.