One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 first opportunity to plant broccoli in Frederick can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

Frost tolerance for broccoli:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Broccoli can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Frederick 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your broccoli may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your broccoli indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Frederick. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Frederick is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Frederick last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your broccoli if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Frederick

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

Plants to Grow in Frederick

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