Potato Varieties That Suit Virginia
For most of Virginia, early and mid-season potato varieties are the safer bet, and the reason traces straight back to soil temperature.
Gardening in Virginia
Everything we have worked out for Virginia: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Virginia Beach, the last spring freeze runs March 20 to April 3 and the first fall freeze runs November 10 to November 24, USDA zones 5a-8b, 4,864 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 17.4 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Virginia: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
What to Plant in Virginia in September
September is the reset button for a Virginia garden. With the first fall frost still six to twelve weeks away across most of the state, this is the month…
What to Plant in Virginia in October
October is a planting month in Virginia, not a waiting month. Garlic and shallots go into the ground, along with spinach, kale, and spring bulbs like…
What to Plant in Virginia in November
By November, Virginia’s window for planting new vegetables has mostly closed.
What to Plant in Virginia in May
By May, Virginia’s last spring frost window (March 20 to April 3, per NOAA NCEI data for coastal Virginia Beach) has already closed across most of the…
What to Plant in Virginia in March
Cold-hardy crops go in through March across most of Virginia: peas, onion sets, lettuce, spinach, and brassica transplants can all handle open ground.
What to Plant in Virginia in June
By June, Virginia gardens sit squarely in the warm-season stretch. The state’s last frost window (March 20 to April 3 at the coastal reference station)…
What to Plant in Virginia in July
July in Virginia means the frost windows are irrelevant, the soil is warm clear through, and the job is less about planting from scratch than about…
What to Plant in Virginia in January
January puts almost nothing new into open Virginia soil. Garlic and shallots still go in where the ground hasn’t locked up, bare-root fruit trees and…
What to Plant in Virginia in February
Little goes into open ground in Virginia in February, and that is not a failure of the calendar, it is the frost math working exactly as it should.