The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant sweet corn is to examine the USDA zone info for Cortez.

Planting Calendar for Sweet corn

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

Sweet corn can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant sweet corn in Cortez 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 sweet corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet corn may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your sweet corn indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cortez. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Cortez is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cortez you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your sweet corn in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cortez

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Cortez

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