Nasturtium · Chesapeake, Virginia, United States
When to sow nasturtiums in Chesapeake
Main outdoor window
17-31 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 March
In Chesapeake, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
6-21 May
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Chesapeake
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Sow direct
17-31 Mar
One week after your last frost.
In flower
6-21 May
Nasturtiums through the year
Against the frost risk in Chesapeake
Why these dates
Direct sow after last frost. The large seed germinates readily and transplanting is unnecessary.
Frost-tender throughout. Often the first plant in the garden to signal that a frost occurred overnight.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Nasturtiums are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Chesapeake.
The median frost-free season here is 272 days, against 50 to 65 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Nearby
Nasturtiums in places close by
Also in Chesapeake
Other flowers to time
Growing nasturtiums in Chesapeake
When should I plant nasturtiums in Chesapeake?
Aim for 17-31 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 4-18 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will nasturtiums be ready to harvest in Chesapeake?
Expect to start picking around 6-21 May, based on 50 to 65 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will nasturtiums tolerate?
Frost-tender throughout. Often the first plant in the garden to signal that a frost occurred overnight.