One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 making a decision about when you can plant pearl onions is to refer to the USDA zone info for Alexandria.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Pearl onions do ok in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Alexandria 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pearl onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Alexandria the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Alexandria and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Alexandria last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your pearl onions in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alexandria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Alexandria

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