One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant leeks by reviewing the USDA zone info for Marion.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

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

Since leeks do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Marion 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Marion. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Marion and it is different every year. Half of the time in Marion you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your leeks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marion

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Marion

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