Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 figuring out when it's possible to plant lobelia is to check out the USDA zone info for Chesapeake.

Planting Calendar for Lobelia

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

Lobelia do well in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lobelia 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 lobelia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lobelia may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lobelia indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Chesapeake. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chesapeake may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Chesapeake it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your lobelia in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.