One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for International Falls can be looked at to figure out when it's the best time to plant pearl onions.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Pearl onions do ok in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in International Falls 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your pearl onions indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in International Falls. You should expect an average low temperature of -40°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for International Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in International Falls it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pearl onions if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for International Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-40°F
Highest Expected Low	-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in International Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for International Falls.