The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant gomphrena is to check out the USDA zone info for Valdese.

Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

Frost tolerance for gomphrena:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Gomphrena do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Valdese is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your gomphrena may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gomphrena indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Valdese. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Valdese is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Valdese you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your gomphrena if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valdese

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 Valdese

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