One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 looked at to estimate when to plant verbena.

Planting Calendar for Verbena

Frost tolerance for verbena:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Verbena can survive in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant verbena and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your verbena may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your verbena indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Durham is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Durham you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your verbena in the event of 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.