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.

The USDA zone info for Benson should be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant onions.

Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Since onions are very cold tolerant you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant onions in Benson 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Benson the average date of last frost happens on March 15. 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 Benson is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Benson there is a last frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Benson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Benson

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