One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You should be able to estimate when to plant turnips by checking out the USDA zone info for Wilmington.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant turnips until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Wilmington is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmington is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Wilmington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your turnips if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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