Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant broccoli is to check out the USDA zone info for Norfolk.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

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

Since broccoli are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

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

USDA Zone Info for Norfolk

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 Norfolk

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