One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant leeks is to examine the USDA zone info for Surprise.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

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

Leeks are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Surprise is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant leeks and expect a good harvest is probably October. Any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your leeks indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Surprise is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Surprise there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your leeks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Surprise

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Surprise

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