The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 8a should be looked at to estimate when to plant alternaria.

Planting Calendar for Alternaria

Frost tolerance for alternaria:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant alternaria until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant alternaria in Zone 8a is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Zone 8a. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 8a is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 8a it frosts late in the year after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your alternaria in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 8a

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 Zone 8a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 8a.