One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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 Derby can be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since okra are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Derby is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant okra and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Derby. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Derby is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Derby it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Derby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Derby

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