One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Durham you should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant rosemary.

Planting Calendar for Rosemary

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

Rosemary do ok in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant rosemary 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 rosemary and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your rosemary may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your rosemary indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Durham is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Durham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your rosemary 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.