One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when you can plant beets is to refer to the USDA zone info for Westchester.

Planting Calendar for Beets

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

Beets do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

In Westchester the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Westchester and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Westchester last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your beets in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Westchester

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 Westchester

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