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

A way of determining when you can plant shallots is to refer to the USDA zone info for Holyoke.

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.

Shallots are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant shallots in Holyoke 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. Starting your shallots indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Holyoke. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Holyoke is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Holyoke it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your shallots if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Holyoke

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 Holyoke

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