One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of determining when to plant nigella is to consult the USDA zone info for Blacksburg.

Planting Calendar for Nigella

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

Since nigella are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant nigella in Blacksburg 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 nigella and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your nigella may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your nigella indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Blacksburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Blacksburg is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Blacksburg there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your nigella if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Blacksburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

Plants to Grow in Blacksburg

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