The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when you can plant cabbage is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Cabbage

Frost tolerance for cabbage:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant cabbage a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in Ottawa is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ottawa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cabbage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Ottawa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ottawa.