One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Durham should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's a good idea to plant red cabbage.

Planting Calendar for Red cabbage

Frost tolerance for red cabbage:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant red cabbage much earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant red cabbage 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 red cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your red cabbage may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your red cabbage 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 April 15 in Durham. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Durham may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Durham there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your red cabbage in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.