When to Plant Sorrel in Spencer, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's possible to plant sorrel in Spencer by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sorrel

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

You can plant sorrel a little earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant sorrel in Spencer 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 sorrel and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sorrel may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sorrel indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Spencer. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Spencer may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Spencer it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your sorrel in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Spencer

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 Spencer

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