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.

One way of figuring out when you can plant canna is to consult the USDA zone info for Elizabeth City.

Planting Calendar for Canna

Frost tolerance for canna:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant canna until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant canna in Elizabeth City 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 canna and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your canna may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your canna indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Elizabeth City. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elizabeth City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elizabeth City there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your canna if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elizabeth City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Elizabeth City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elizabeth City.