One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Durham you can determine when to plant tropical water plants by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

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

You should not plant tropical water plants until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tropical water plants indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Durham the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Durham is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Durham it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your tropical water plants 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.