One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 Merrill can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant shallots.

Planting Calendar for Shallots

Frost tolerance for shallots:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Shallots do well in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The last month that you can plant shallots and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your shallots indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Merrill. You can expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Merrill may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Merrill it frosts late in the year after May 15 so always be ready to cover your shallots if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Merrill

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Merrill

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