Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Norfolk it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant alyssum.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum do ok in a bit of cold which tells us 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 Norfolk 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. If you wait any later than that and your alyssum may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your alyssum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Norfolk. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Norfolk may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Norfolk it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your alyssum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Norfolk

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