One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant eggplants by using the USDA zone info for Shelby.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Eggplants are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in Shelby 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your eggplants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Shelby the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelby is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Shelby you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your eggplants if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shelby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Shelby

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