One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant perilla is to check out the USDA zone info for Wilmington.

Planting Calendar for Perilla

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

Since perilla are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant perilla in Wilmington 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 perilla and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your perilla may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your perilla indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Wilmington. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmington is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmington there is a last frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your perilla in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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