One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant gherkins is to examine the USDA zone info for Rockingham.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

You can not plant gherkins until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Rockingham 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gherkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your gherkins 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 March 15 in Rockingham. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rockingham is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rockingham there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your gherkins if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockingham

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 Rockingham

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