One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant thyme is to check out the USDA zone info for Charlottesville.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

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

Since thyme are very cold tolerant you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant thyme 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 thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your thyme may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your thyme indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charlottesville. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Charlottesville may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Charlottesville you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your thyme 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.