One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of figuring out when you can plant alyssum is to refer to the USDA zone info for Spotswood.

Planting Calendar for Alyssum

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

Alyssum are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Spotswood. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Spotswood is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Spotswood you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your alyssum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spotswood

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Spotswood

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