When to Plant Shallots in Gardner, MA

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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Gardner it's possible to estimate when to plant shallots.


Planting Calendar for Shallots

Frost tolerance for shallots: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since shallots do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant shallots
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant shallots
Probably not a good time to plant shallots

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

The last month that you can plant shallots and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your shallots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your shallots indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gardner and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Gardner it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your shallots if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Gardner

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 Gardner

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