When to Plant Shallots in Centerville, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 USDA zone info for Centerville can be looked at to determine when it's the best time to plant shallots.


Planting Calendar for Shallots

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

Shallots are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant shallots
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant shallots
Probably not a good time to plant shallots

The earliest that you can plant shallots in Centerville 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 shallots and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your shallots indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Centerville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Centerville is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Centerville you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your shallots if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Centerville

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 Centerville

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