One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant alyssum is to check out the USDA zone info for Statesville.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant alyssum in Statesville 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 alyssum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your alyssum indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Statesville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Statesville and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Statesville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your alyssum if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Statesville

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 Statesville

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