When to Plant Garlic in Caribou, ME

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant garlic is to examine the USDA zone info for Caribou.


Planting Calendar for Garlic

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

Garlic are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can start planting them much earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Caribou 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 garlic and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your garlic may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your garlic indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Caribou the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Caribou is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Caribou there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to cover your garlic if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Caribou

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Caribou

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