One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 8a you should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant trachelium.

Planting Calendar for Trachelium

Frost tolerance for trachelium:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant trachelium until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant trachelium 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 trachelium and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your trachelium may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your trachelium indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is 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 may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 8a you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your trachelium if you have 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.