One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 getting a good idea when you can plant gomphrena is to look at the USDA zone info for Norfolk.

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.

You can plant gomphrena slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Norfolk 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gomphrena may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your gomphrena indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Norfolk the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Norfolk is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Norfolk you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your gomphrena if you have 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.