The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 Port Royal should be looked at to determine when you can plant petunias.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Petunias do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Port Royal 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 petunias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your petunias may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your petunias indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Port Royal. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Port Royal is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Port Royal there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your petunias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Port Royal

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Port Royal

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Port Royal.