When to Plant Sorrel in Ottawa, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Ottawa can be used to determine when you can plant sorrel.

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Planting Calendar for Sorrel

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

Sorrel can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sorrel
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sorrel
Probably not a good time to plant sorrel

The earliest that you can plant sorrel 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 sorrel and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your sorrel may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sorrel indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ottawa. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your sorrel if you have one of those late frosts.

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.