One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Durham you can estimate when to plant coreopsis by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Coreopsis

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

You can plant coreopsis just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant coreopsis in Durham is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant coreopsis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your coreopsis may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your coreopsis indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit 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 is different every year. Half of the time in Durham you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your coreopsis in the event of a 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.