When to Plant Cleome in Bedford, VA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Bedford can be looked at to figure out when to plant cleome.


Planting Calendar for Cleome

Frost tolerance for cleome: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Cleome do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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A good time to plant cleome
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cleome
Probably not a good time to plant cleome

The earliest that you can plant cleome in Bedford 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 cleome and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cleome may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cleome 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 Bedford. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Bedford is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Bedford last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cleome in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bedford

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 Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°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 Bedford

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