One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The first opportunity to plant strawberries in Alton can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

Frost tolerance for strawberries:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Strawberries are very cold tolerant which means that you can plant them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Alton 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your strawberries indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Alton. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Alton is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Alton there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your strawberries in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Alton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Alton

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