Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 common way of determining when it's the best time to plant gomphrena is to use the USDA zone info for Virginia Beach.

Planting Calendar for Gomphrena

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

Since gomphrena are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant gomphrena in Virginia Beach 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 gomphrena and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your gomphrena may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your gomphrena indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Virginia Beach. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Virginia Beach may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Virginia Beach last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your gomphrena if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Virginia Beach

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 Virginia Beach

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Virginia Beach.