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.

The USDA zone info for Manhattan can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant flax.

Planting Calendar for Flax

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

Flax do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant flax in Manhattan 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 flax and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your flax may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your flax indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Manhattan. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Manhattan is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Manhattan you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your flax if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Manhattan

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