One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Escanaba you can estimate when it's the best time to plant okra by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Okra are not cold tolerant which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant okra and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your okra may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Escanaba. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Escanaba is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Escanaba it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Escanaba

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Escanaba

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