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 earliest that you can plant cleome in Durham should be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant cleome until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Durham 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your cleome indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Durham. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Durham is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Durham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cleome if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Durham

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 Durham

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