When to Plant Snapdragons in Zone 8a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant snapdragons is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 8a.


Planting Calendar for Snapdragons

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

Snapdragons do well in some cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant snapdragons in Zone 8a 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 snapdragons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your snapdragons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your snapdragons indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Zone 8a. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 8a and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 8a you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your snapdragons if you have a late frost.

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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.