When to Plant Garlic in Bozeman, MT

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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Bozeman it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant garlic.


Planting Calendar for Garlic

Frost tolerance for garlic: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since garlic do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

The last month that you can plant garlic and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garlic may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your garlic indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Bozeman. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Bozeman and it is different every year. Half of the time in Bozeman there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to protect your garlic in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bozeman

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Bozeman

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