When to Plant Pearl onions in Lexington, VA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Lexington you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant pearl onions by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Pearl onions are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant pearl onions
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant pearl onions
Probably not a good time to plant pearl onions

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Lexington is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Lexington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lexington may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lexington last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your pearl onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lexington

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 Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°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 Lexington

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