When to Plant Strawberries in Cottage Grove, MN

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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Cottage Grove you should be able to determine when you can plant strawberries.


Planting Calendar for Strawberries

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

Strawberries are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in Cottage Grove 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your strawberries indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Cottage Grove. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cottage Grove and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cottage Grove it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to protect your strawberries in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cottage Grove

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Cottage Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cottage Grove.