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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant mustard is to refer to the USDA zone info for Valdese.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Mustard are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mustard in Valdese 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your mustard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Valdese is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Valdese it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your mustard if you have one of those late frosts.

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.