When to Plant Tree onions in Dubuque, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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 first opportunity to plant tree onions in Dubuque should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Tree onions

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

You can plant tree onions a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant tree onions in Dubuque 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 tree onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tree onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tree onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dubuque. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Dubuque may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Dubuque it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your tree onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dubuque

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Dubuque

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