Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant romaine lettuce is to check out the USDA zone info for Elizabeth City.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

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

Romaine lettuce can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Elizabeth City 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Elizabeth City the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Elizabeth City and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elizabeth City you get a frost after March 15 be ready to cover your romaine lettuce in the event of 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.