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

In Springfield you can determine when you can plant shallots by referring to the USDA zone info.

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.

You can plant shallots just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant shallots in Springfield 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your shallots indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Springfield is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Springfield it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your shallots if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Springfield

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 Springfield

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