One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first chance to plant romaine lettuce in Hickory can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

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 are very cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Hickory 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. Any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your romaine lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hickory. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Hickory is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Hickory last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your romaine lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hickory

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 Hickory

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hickory.