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.

The USDA zone info for Valley City should be used to estimate when to plant primula.

Planting Calendar for Primula

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

Since primula do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant primula in Valley City 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 primula and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your primula may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your primula indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Valley City the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valley City may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Valley City last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your primula if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valley City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Valley City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Valley City.