One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 first chance to plant helianthemum in Charlottesville should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Helianthemum

Frost tolerance for helianthemum:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Helianthemum are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant helianthemum in Charlottesville 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 helianthemum and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your helianthemum may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your helianthemum indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Charlottesville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charlottesville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charlottesville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your helianthemum in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charlottesville

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Charlottesville

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