Gardening in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
This metro spans USDA zones 7b to 9a, so there is no single zone for Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 50% of its ZIP codes are zone 8a; the rest are not.
Which zone you are in depends where you are
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC covers 4 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 50% in zone 8a and wrong for the other 50%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8a | 63 | 50% | |
| 8b | 57 | 45% | |
| 9a | 4 | 3% | |
| 7b | 3 | 2% |
Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.
Your freeze dates
Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 18 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.
The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.
Your growing season
NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 18 stations serving Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC it runs 190–266 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 83–90 °F , at or above the 90 °F point where cool-season crops bolt and tomato and pepper pollen fails — so midsummer sowings of lettuce and its relatives are worth holding here.
When to start seeds in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 18 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Onions | Start indoors | January 18 – February 23 | 8 weeks before |
| Peppers | Start indoors | January 18 – February 23 | 8 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Collards | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Kale | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Peas | Direct sow | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Spinach | Direct sow | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Sweet Potato | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Tomatoes | Start indoors | February 1 – March 9 | 6 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Start indoors | February 8 – March 16 | 5 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Start indoors | February 8 – March 16 | 5 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Start indoors | February 8 – March 16 | 5 weeks before |
| Arugula | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Beets | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Mustard Greens | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Okra | Start indoors | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Radishes | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Turnips | Direct sow | February 15 – March 23 | 4 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Set out | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Carrots | Direct sow | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Direct sow | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Set out | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Cucumbers | Start indoors | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Set out | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Direct sow | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Set out | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Direct sow | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Set out | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Pumpkins | Start indoors | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Summer Squash | Start indoors | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Winter Squash | Start indoors | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Zucchini | Start indoors | February 22 – March 30 | 3 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Direct sow | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Set out | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Set out | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Cilantro | Direct sow | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Set out | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Direct sow | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Set out | March 1 – April 6 | 2 weeks before |
| Dill | Direct sow | March 8 – April 13 | 1 week before |
| Bush Beans | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Sweet Corn | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Tomatoes | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Direct sow | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Set out | March 22 – April 27 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Direct sow | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Direct sow | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Set out | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
| Peppers | Set out | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
| Southern Peas | Direct sow | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
| Sweet Potato | Set out | March 29 – May 4 | 2 weeks after |
The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.
What survives the winter changes across Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 57 come through the winter in zone 8a and only 46 in zone 9a. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.
| Zone | ZIPs | Survive | Fail for being too warm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7b | 3 | 56 of 74 | 3 |
| 8a | 63 | 57 of 74 | 8 |
| 8b | 57 | 54 of 74 | 11 |
| 9a | 4 | 46 of 74 | 25 |
The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.
The 18 stations behind these numbers
Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Distances vary by ZIP code, so the tools report yours rather than this page guessing.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disputanta, VA | USC00442400 | April 10 | November 1 | 206 days |
| Elizabeth City Cgas, NC | USW00013786 | March 28 | November 12 | 230 days |
| Elizabeth City, NC | USC00312719 | March 27 | November 17 | 238 days |
| Fentress Naas, VA | USW00013762 | March 23 | November 18 | 240 days |
| Holland 1 E, VA | USC00444044 | April 7 | November 2 | 208 days |
| Langley Afb, VA | USW00013702 | March 24 | November 15 | 238 days |
| Manteo AP, NC | USW00013766 | March 15 | December 6 | 266 days |
| Murfreesboro, NC | USC00315996 | April 6 | November 1 | 208 days |
| N, VA | USC00446161 | April 1 | November 10 | 223 days |
| Newport News INTL AP, VA | USW00093741 | April 1 | November 9 | 221 days |
| Norfolk INTL AP, VA | USW00013737 | March 17 | November 23 | 252 days |
| Norfolk Nas, VA | USW00013750 | March 16 | November 26 | 255 days |
| Norfolk Rich, VA | USW00093773 | April 6 | November 1 | 210 days |
| Norfolk S, VA | USC00446147 | March 23 | November 16 | 239 days |
| Oceana Nas, VA | USW00013769 | March 29 | November 12 | 230 days |
| Suffolk Lake Kilby, VA | USC00448192 | March 27 | November 15 | 233 days |
| Wallaceton-Lake Drummond, VA | USC00448837 | April 20 | October 27 | 190 days |
| Williamsburg 2 N, VA | USC00449151 | March 31 | November 10 | 225 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Work out your own dates
Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.
- What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
- When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
- When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
- What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.
Where these numbers come from
The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.
This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.