One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant leeks is to look at the USDA zone info for Zone 7a.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

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

Since leeks are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Zone 7a 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your leeks indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Zone 7a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 7a is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Zone 7a there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your leeks if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 7a

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Zone 7a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 7a.