When to Plant Lavender in Zone 3a

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant lavender in Zone 3a can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Lavender

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

Lavender do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant lavender in Zone 3a 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 lavender and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lavender may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lavender indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Zone 3a. It might get as low as -40°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 3a and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 3a you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lavender in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-40°F
Highest Expected Low-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.