The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant garlic in Ottawa should be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

Frost tolerance for garlic:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant garlic quite a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Ottawa. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your garlic if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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