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.

You can determine when to plant broccoli in Sterling by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Broccoli

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

You can plant broccoli just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Sterling. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sterling is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sterling you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your broccoli in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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