When to plant strawberries in zone 7a

The zone 7a schedule for strawberries

Plant out

March 5 to 19

First harvest, roughly

June 3 to July 7

From the median frost dates of the NOAA stations assigned to the 3,981 ZIP codes in zone 7a, and the timing recommended by Cooperative Extension guides for strawberries.

Dates before the last frost assume the soil has thawed and is dry enough to work: a squeezed handful crumbles instead of sticking. After a late or wet spring, wait for that even if the date has passed.

Frost risk in zone 7a

Zones are based on winter cold, not on frost dates, so the last spring frost varies a lot within a zone. Across zone 7a, the typical last frost ranges from about April 5 in the earliest tenth of ZIP codes to April 29 in the latest tenth, and the first fall frost from October 15 to November 2. For a typical place in the zone:

• April 1Risky: a later frost happens in 9 years out of 10
• April 16Typical: frost after this date in half of years
• May 3Safe: a later frost only 1 year in 10

Strawberries in zone 7a cities