One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 determining when to plant asparagus is to look at the USDA zone info for Chesapeake.

Planting Calendar for Asparagus

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

You can plant asparagus quite a bit earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Chesapeake 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your asparagus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Chesapeake. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chesapeake is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chesapeake there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your asparagus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chesapeake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Chesapeake

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