One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Rocky Mount you can determine when it's a good idea to plant primula by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Primula do well in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Rocky Mount 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your primula indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Rocky Mount. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rocky Mount may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Rocky Mount last frost occurs after March 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your primula if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rocky Mount

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 Rocky Mount

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rocky Mount.