One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant carrots is to use the USDA zone info for Paxton.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

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

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Paxton 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your carrots indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Paxton and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Paxton it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your carrots in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Paxton

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 Paxton

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