The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 it's a good idea to plant alternaria is to refer to the USDA zone info for Raleigh.

Planting Calendar for Alternaria

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

It's not a good idea to plant alternaria until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant alternaria in Raleigh 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 alternaria and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your alternaria may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your alternaria indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Raleigh is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Raleigh you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your alternaria in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Raleigh

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 Raleigh

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