Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant onions is to check out the USDA zone info for Lake Elmo.

Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Onions tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant onions in Lake Elmo 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Lake Elmo. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lake Elmo may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Lake Elmo you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Elmo

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 Lake Elmo

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Elmo.